
Class „"B^tl^. 

Book J2> 

Gopightlf 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



STUDIES IN 
SPIRITUAL HARMONY 






BY IONE 



G^La&x~ \ \i tUFwr^,. 



Denver, Colorado 

The Reed Publishing Company 

1901 



THE UGRARY OF 

OGNGSESS, 
Two Curies Received 

DEC. 30 1901 

Copyright entry 
CLASS G/ XXo. No. 

copy a. 






Copyrighted, 1901 

by 

GRACE M. BROWN 






■ 



the Reed Publishing €o, 

DENVER 



• z • 



GREETING 

/") UR STUDIES have received such a gracious welcome that 
we have found it one of the happy duties of our work to put 
them in book form. So we offer to our dear friends and read- 
ers the First Series of our lessons. 

While we realize thoroughly the higher Individuality, we 
also recognize the oneness of all men and that we are dependent 
upon each other for all things. And we rejoice in the thought 
that the success which attends our work is due largely to the 
constructive force of our devoted Circle of Truth Students, to 
whom we dedicate this little volume in sincere love. 



&t^ &t. 




THE LORD'S PRAYER. 



Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be 
thy name. 

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on 
earth as it is in Heaven. 

The bread of life give unto us this day, and 
from all obligations free us, as we have freed 
those under obligations to us. 

"Lead us through temptation into light." 

And deliver us from indolence. 

For Thine is the kingdom, the force, and 
the radiance throughout all existence forever. 

All praise, all glory and adoration unto 
thee, oh, Eternal One! 

Let all men do Him reverence. 

— N. F. W. H. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

Practical Metaphysics 9 

Vibration 25 

Concentration 49 

Breathing 67 

Mind 85 

Self Reliance 99 

.Ethical Dietetics 115 



Ah ! Blessed Lord ! Oh, High Deliverer ! 
Forgive this feeble script, which doth Thee 

wrong 
Measuring with little wit thy lofty Love. 
Ah ! Lover ! Brother ! Guide ! Lamp of the 

Law! 
I take my refuge in Thy name and Thee! 
I take my refuge in Thy Law of Good ! 
I take my refuge in Thy Order! OM! 
The dew is on the lotus ! — rise, Great Sun ! 
And lift my leaf and mix me with the wave. 
Om mani padme hum, the Sunrise comes ! 
The Dewdrop slips into the shining Sea ! 

— Light of Asia. 



STUDIES IN 
SPIRITUAL HARMONY 



PRACTICAL METAPHYSICS 



© 



PRACTICAL METAPHYSICS 

O you know this dear old planet is fairly quivering with 
a great wave of light that is sweeping over it? Call it 
what you like, words are nothing, but the fact is ap- 
parent to every man who has eyes to see and a heart to under- 
stand that the light of truth is at last breaking over a weary 
world. 

Dear, dear friends, no more sickness, no more sorrow, no 
more poverty — and do you realize that this wonderful truth is 
for you if only you will receive it. and will place no barrier be- 
tween you and its fulfillment. You are to be master. You are 
to overcome your conditions and your conditions shall not over- 
come you. 

Xow let us think about it — and will you be surprised when 
I tell you that many people are too lazy to think? It is so easy 
to let things go just as they are, and it certainly requires some 
effort of the mind to enable a man to grasp the principles that 
exist as causes in human life. 

Beware of a rut; anything but that. Any instrument will 
wear out if you play on the same string all the time, and the most 
wonderful instrument ever conceived of — the human body — is 
no exception to the rule. 



io Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Possibly you do not realize that your entire body is one 
grand instrument for thought. The brain of the objective mind 
is not the only brain you have. Do you know where the solar 
plexus is, the central sun of the organism? Of course you do. 
Well, there is the brain or instrument of the subjective mind 
just as much as the brain of the head is the instrument of the 
objective mind. Oh, do you wonder when we speak of what a 
serious thing it is to oppress the most vital part of your being, 
when it means sacrificing your soul development to a false idea 
of beauty? 

Beauty is important ; it is something we should all strive to 
cultivate; but Beauty is freedom, Beauty is truth and harmony, 
and any departure from harmony is not beauty. 

All of the body must be free — must at times be entirely ex- 
posed to the air and the sunshine. Nature loves freedom. The 
forest tree must have air enough to breathe and room for its 
widening roots before it can come into its perfection of life. How 
much more important that the body shall have breathing room, 
and yet how we do torture and compress it. One brave man 
is fighting for freedom for the feet. Dear Father Kneipp, he 
knows we must breathe through our feet sometimes, if we do 
keep them in prison most of the time. 

Metaphysics ; what different meanings the word has to dif- 
ferent minds! How much depends upon our viewpoint! Let 



Practical Metaphysics. n 

us take the broad view and realize that it relates to the measuring 
of all philosophy, and understand that the study of metaphysics 
relates to the art of harmonizing the physical as well as the 
spiritual man. 

To be sure, here we are in the midst of all kinds of theories, 
and osophies, isms and creeds — schools which claim to represent 
the new thought, and yet which feel that they have a corner on 
the truth and a reserved seat in the front row. Now we are go- 
ing to look at this new thought — which, by the way, isn't new 
at all — from the standpoint of a thinking individual. We know 
that if a thing is true, it must conform and harmonize with every- 
thing else that is true, because only that which is truth is ever- 
lasting, and all else must fade away. 

Discrimination is the first round on the ladder, so we will 
adjust ourselves in this thought of life and light that is so beauti- 
ful to the eyes that are open, and soon we shall know for our- 
selves the way, the truth and the life. 

We each have our own individual place in the universe, and 
our own way of traveling. "Owls do not know the eagles' path 
to the sun," but the same fundamental laws of life prevail in each 
and every one of us, and we can inspire and help each other, there- 
by helping ourselves, all along the way. 

Let us be practical, and in being practical we will com- 
mence by simplifying things somewhat, and coming into an un- 



12 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

derstanding of the realities of life. To begin with, life is mean- 
ingless unless we realize that we are a part of that which is. But 
with that recognition, not only of our own being, but of the law 
of Universal Unity as well, what a grand meaning all things 
instantly possess, and what possibilities of use open before us. 

There is the great point use. That is the principle which 
determines all things — every force that is constructive is useful — 
anything that is not useful will disintegrate because the force of 
construction is not there — and every thought, word and deed 
carries with it either a destructive or constructive vibration. 

Now in our contemplation of use and every day practical 
metaphysics, let us take a glimpse of the physical man. We have 
had so much theory — let us affirm that the aristocracy of the 
twentieth century shall be distinguished by Health and Beauty 
of body, intelligence and harmony of mind and conditions, and 
then we will prove it — not only think about it — but solidify that 
thought into action. 

It is no longer interesting to be an invalid. The day when 
people enjoyed poor health and were interesting objects of sym- 
pathy is past ; and by the way, do stop condoling with those who 
are manifesting physical inharmony — and don't go to the other 
extreme and tell a man he is not suffering when he knows he is. 
Teach people how to overcome — remove the obstacle — show 
your patient the way — and do treat him like a reasonable human 



Practical Metaphysics. 13 

being. Remember that each man is different, each mind requires 
a different chord, for it is attuned to a different key. The man 
who responds to the chord of G will never be moved if you strike 
the chord of D in dealing with him; so you see you must first 
reach your patient, become attuned to his vibrations, and when 
you are in harmony with him inspire him to overcome his inhar- 
monious condition and be master of himself. 

No case is hopeless until the soul has left its abiding place 
for all time. Health, full, free, vigorous is the demand, and what 
we demand knowing it is ours by every law of nature we shall 
certainly have. 

The day we are passing on this planet is but one of many 
days. Man never steps outside of universal life, but while he is 
on this planet he is using for the vehicle of his soul expression 
an instrument, the superb mechanism of which should be com- 
prehended and used instead of abused, as is too often the case. 
Now right here is the study of the law of use ; we find a mode of 
thought whereby we are enabled to grasp the principles that 
exist as causes and effects in human life and apply them practically 
in our individual lives. 

Some people seem to imagine that they can break every law 
of the Creator and then by their suggestion avoid all the conse- 
quences, or inharmonious result of their vain attempt, for of 
course no one can break a law ; he only attempts to do so. You 



14 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

might just exactly as well throw yourself in front of a moving 
car, and use your suggestion to stop the car or keep your body 
from being hurt if the car strikes you. It is what the old-fash- 
ioned churchman would call tempting Providence, and sometimes 
these students of the new thought forget to use their common 
sense in their enthusiasm. 

How really useful it would be if we students of meta- 
physics would always use that much neglected quality of com- 
mon sense in our researches. Not long ago one of our leading 
and prominent teachers had an article in her journal on diet. In 
it the writer gave this thought, that a man can eat anything he 
pleases — flesh of all kinds, boiled pork and cabbage — in fact, any- 
thing, and then treat himself and it will not affect him. Some- 
thing like the confessional. Kill your man if you want to, only 
get to the confessional as soon as possible afterwards, and you 
are perfectly safe. 

What I would like to know is, what is the use of filling 
your body with destructive vibrations and then spending your 
valuable time in overcoming them. Why not think, live and act 
constructively all the time and use your force in a better way ? 

Of course if a man wishes to make a charnel house of his 
stomach, poison his system with the vibrations of fear which infill 
the stricken creatures whose bodies are his food, that is his privi- 
lege. But do not be surprised if disease on all planes attacks 



Practical Metaphysics. 15 

him while he is taking into his system those forces that attract 
disease. 

Don't think the study of diet has nothing to do with the 
study of metaphysics,, for it really is of vital consequence. Every 
force you take into your body, every breath you draw, partakes 
of one of two qualities, construction or destruction, love or fear. 
Everything you eat and drink, every thought,, every action, builds 
you or disintegrates you. Do you not see that your food then 
is to be carefully chosen, that the chemistry of food corresponds 
closely to the spiritual alchemy, and that in knowing yourself 
and the laws of your being you find the perfect way? 

These teachers and students of truth who declare they are 
going to remain in their present bodies forever, must remember 
one law, and that is that like attracts like, and what belongs to 
them is all they can have. They can remain in the body just as 
long as they build it with vibrations which construct, but every 
vibration of fear which enters the organism in anv way carries 
its disintegrating force. The law of the Lord is perfect, and 
only in perfect life and perfect strength can we overcome the 
last enemy, which is Death. 

At one of our recent meetings the question of flesh eating 
came- up. and one student said that she did not understand why 
man should not have dominion over everything: that she was 
in the habit of eating three square meals a day and eating every- 



1 6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

thing but the dishes. Another student remarked that she would 
rather eat the dishes than most of the stuff that was put before 
her. Now you see it is all lack of understanding. We have 
spent several years in the study of the chemistry of foods, and 
before many weeks will give you a book on the subject full of 
recipes and ideas about food. 

For some housekeepers it is hard to realize that we can pre- 
pare three meals a day for three hundred and sixty-five days in 
the year with a different bill of fare each meal, and never use any 
animal food, but it is true, and we will give you the book which 
will teach you to do the same just as soon as it is ready, which 
we hope will be this coming winter. We will show you how to 
make mince pies without meat, and plum puddings without suet. 
We believe in three square meals a day ourselves, but we believe 
in the constructive foods, and that the preparing of food is one 
of the most important acts in the world and the one that is the 
least understood. 

Ah ! how we hunger for the fruit which is afar on the .hills, 
and how indifferent we seem to that which is within our reach. 
Perhaps we are too indolent to grasp it. It is so easy to neglect 
the common daily duties of life and feel they are beneath our 
notice, when in their accomplishment lies the great secret — that 
to do the best we know how, the work of to-day, leads us toward 
that work which we love and which is ours. No man is more 



Practical Metaphysics. iy 

blessed than he who has found his life's expression in the work 
that he loves. 

Indolence, physical and mental, is one of the great barriers 
to our becoming whole. It is a good deal of trouble to take 
proper care of the body, to take a breathing exercise and a little 
physical exercise after it. It is quite an effort to control the 
mind, and through that control become master of yourself and 
your conditions, but it's the sure way. Of course it is easier to 
declare you are well anyway. Theories are always easier than 
practical facts, but to-day we are talking about practical meta- 
physics — things that will prove by the result, the truth in them. 

Let me give you an exercise that will interest you by prov- 
ing to you how it will strengthen and build you physically and 
spiritually if you care to practice it. 

After you have taken your morning bath, and absorbed from 
the water the life essence in it, lie down on your back on the floor 
with hands and arms stretched downward. Then slowly raise 
the arms straight up in the air without bending the elbows until 
you touch the floor over your head. Take a deep breath each time 
you do it and place your mind upon your desire for Health and 
understanding or whatever may be the desire of your heart. It 
is a strengthening process to repeat the Lord's prayer as you 
inbreathe and raise the arms, and that prayer properly said and 
rightly understood contains the essence of one's heart's desire — 



1 8 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

"Lead us through temptation into light" — isn't it beautiful? 
That is the correct version, and what a consciousness of strength 
comes over us as we realize our prayers are answered and we see 
this light. Take this exercise three times every day — morning, 
noon, and just before retiring. You will soon find for yourself 
an inspiration that you knew not of. 

In taking any physical culture exercise remember that 
through the thought you inbreathe while taking it will come its 
results. It may give you love and understanding or it may give 
you mere brute force. We hear a great deal about physical cul- 
ture these days, and a fine thing it is too, but I have noticed that 
some of these magnificent giants who have acquired such marvel- 
ous muscle are too small around the waist, the solar plexus 
is not developed. Too small around the head, the brain of the 
objective mind is not developed; and also that they have no en- 
durance. Surely endurance is a proof of harmony. You must 
develop on all planes equally. The highly developed muscular 
system must have the strong mind and powerfully developed soul 
forces or it is not enduring. 

Do let us be reasonable. To be sure people who are weak 
on any plane are not reasonable. You can't talk philosophy to a 
man who is starving, or reason with him that his pain is delusion 
if he has a jumping toothache. Help him to overcome the con- 
dition of poverty and the delusion of pain, and then teach him to 



Practical Metaphysics. 19 

be reasonable so he won't get into such scrapes any more. 

One trouble is that people read too much and turn the 
thought within too seldom. They eat too much and do not exer- 
cise sufficiently, thus creating dyspepsia, both mental and physi- 
cal. One very useful cure for such people is to inspire them to do 
something for somebody else; try to make them realize that 
therein lies the greatest happiness of life, and happiness is a con- 
structive force. 

The great enemies of mankind are Fear and Medicine. 
Some one said, "Medicine, Knives and Hatred," and possibly that 
is better expressed, and isn't it a cruel thing when we think of 
it — the awful devastation caused by Hate? We know it is all 
ignorance. All inharmony is the result of ignoring the law, but 
the time is near at hand when the reign of ignorance is past. 
Soon we will all come into realization of the law, and we will 
so vibrate in the law of love that we will love our fellow man, 
into understanding. When we eliminate the qualities of hate 
and fear from our consciousness, medicine and knives will soon 
be memories, and you can rest assured of one thing — the man 
who knows himself will appreciate and take care of his body. 

It is so strange the idea people have of Infinite Intelligence. 
A letter came to-day from a student in New York. In it he said : 
"I have been an invalid from birth. Have I any right to de- 
mand health ? Perhaps it is the will of God that I should be ill." 



20 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Oh, my dear brother, when the will of God is the law itself, and 
the law is all harmony and love. To be sure all effect is from 
some cause, but all can be cured, and every condition that is not 
harmony can be brought into harmony. 

While we know that life on this planet is but a small part of 
the whole, we also know that the opportunity of to-day does not 
return. The only thing a man can lose is his opportunity, so he 
must live in that consciousness of present use. The greatest diffi- 
culty is in fastening the interest on the unseen. So many people 
live in the thought of wonderful pleasures and happiness of some 
future condition. We are in eternity now. To-day is all ; there 
is no past and there is no future in reality. So we must make the 
highest and best use of the present moment, and the future "pres- 
ent moment" will be all right. 

The coming religion is one of optimism and love, success 
and health. One of the microbes which attracts the success mi- 
crobe is cheerfulness. Do smile about things. If they don't 
please you, smile anyway, and your displeasure will be lessened. 
The one person I want to avoid is the man or woman who never 
laughs. He suggests to me all kinds of dreadfulness. Laughter 
is a disinfectant ; it casts out fear, and when fear is cast out dis- 
ease and inharmony soon follow. Nothing is more uplifting or 
more contagious than a sweet, happy smile. 



Practical Metaphysics. 21 

The word contagious has so long been applied to disease that 
we forget good things can be contagious also. There is a reason 
why we prefer to associate with healthy, happy, successful peo- 
ple. Their harmony is infectious, just as surely as the inharmony 
of disease or fear is infectious, because it is the fear not the dis- 
ease that is contagious. I wonder if you ever heard how la 
grippe became an epidemic. It is an interesting proof that it was 
the microbe of fear and not influenza that caused it. A telegram 
came from Russia telling about an acute form of influenza that 
had attacked the royal family, or as it was expressed, had a grip 
on them. Within twenty-four hours there were a hundred cases 
of la grippe in New York alone. It soon became an epidemic, 
and until quite recently la grippe was quite the fashionable way 
of disintegration. 

It is a bad habit to think you must have every disease you 
hear about. Change the vibration "of that habit and attract all 
the good things instead. You are master of yourself if you only 
realize it, and no intruders can enter your castle unless you per- 
mit them ; and you know it's much easier to keep bad tenants out 
than it is to evict them after they have once taken possession. 
Just be sure of yourself. You know the law. Be positive about 
it. You feel the power within; cultivate it, and you will soon 
cast out all fear. 



22 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Let me tell you another secret. Be calm. The greatest 
growth is in the silence. The still, quiet strength is the enduring 
quality. It is possible to use so much force of will that you de- 
stroy instead of construct. The sun rays are our life, and yet 
sometimes they come with such powerful force that it means 
destruction. 

Spiritual light and knowledge, to be practically applied, 
should be sought for in a calm, dignified manner, and tempered 
with common sense and reason at the same time, you don't want 
to seize just one thread and grip it with such force that every 
other thread is rendered useless. No ; you want to polarize your- 
self and be temperate in all things. 

Sometimes a man becomes such an extremist in his search 
for truth that he becomes a gourmand in his aesthetic taste, and 
quite forgets that other people have rights — that means obscur- 
ing the very light he is seeking. You know we have to consider 
everyone who crosses our path and be considerate as well as force- 
ful. We find the greatest clarifier of the spiritual atmosphere is 
unselfishness. 

Knowledge of the finer forces of nature, or the occult 
philosophy, as it is commonly called, gives to man unlimited 
power, providing of course he uses it unselfishly and according to 
the law, otherwise he soon loses his knowledge. Power of over- 
coming pain; power of overcoming conditions. 



Practical Metaphysics. 23 

What is pain, anyway ? It is the result of defective advance, 
uneven development, and monstrous growths. The body suffers 
when it develops monstrosities of any kind, and its suffering is 
the warning cry. You do not want to stop the pain until that 
which causes the pain is arrested in its development. Pain is 
friendly; it only remains long enough to warn you that some- 
thing needs attention, and that there is inharmony within, and as 
soon as you right the condition and equalize once more, the pain 
leaves. 

All that is real and eternal is God, and that which emanates 
from God, and God is all harmony and all truth. The real you 
exists as a part of that harmony. You have your being in the 
Supreme Being and that part of you which is eternal and real 
can express no discord. All that seems discordant does not be- 
long to you and must be cast out. 

Your physical body is just as much spirit as any part of you. 
It only differs in its rate of vibration which corresponds with 
earth's vibration to enable you to manifest upon the planet earth. 
The body is yours, a part of you, and expresses God as much as 
any part of you, consequently the body must be Infinite Life, sub- 
stance and Intelligence. 

Emanuel Swedenborg, who gave to the Occidental world its 
first lessons in practical metaphysics, and who revealed to the 
modern school of thought the philosophy of vibration, teaches us 



24 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

the law of influx. He places these teachings on a scientific basis 
that will stand the test of time. 

According- to his teaching, and according to the teachings 
of our own inner consciousness as well, the human organism is 
built up on true mathematical principles, as all truth must be, 
and every part of this organic structure corresponds with and is 
an expression of interior principles. Now there is the keynote of 
practical healing through the power of thought. 

What a comfort it is that Truth is Infinite; that we are a 
part of it and one with it. No matter how we may distort it in 
our ignoring of the law — it is always there. No matter how we 
may limit our capacity, it rests with each individual man to lay 
aside all barriers and come into the full, free, glorious light of 
the Truth. 



VIBRATION 



VIBRATION 



fS 



HERE COMES A TIME in the evolution of every hu- 
a)l man being,, when he longs for an insight into those things 
which seem to him mysterious, and when he feels that the 
one thing desirable is knowledge ; not the knowledge that is found 
upon the bookshelves, but that understanding that can only be 
found in the warm corner of the heart. Soon he realizes that it is 
a sweet, plain, easy lesson, this lesson of truth, not at all mysteri- 
ous, and when one comes into its understanding with the soul 
consciousness, rather than the thought of the mind, all this world 
becomes better and happier, for when you elevate yourself you 
raise all men with you. 

There has never been a time when the desire for truth was 
so pronounced as it is at present, and there are few subjects in 
the entire study of the higher law. of greater importance than this 
subject of vibration, because the philosophy of vibration explains 
the manifestations of spirit, and most truth students realize that 
matter is an expression of spirit caused by vibration. 

Vibration is the fundamental principle of all form. Through 
vibration this great one substance is differentiated. 

Vibration is motion, forms of motion and numbers of mo- 
tion. This stone at my feet has one rate and form of vibration. 



26 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

and this tree before me has another rate and form of vibration. 
The atoms of my body have one rate and form of vibration, and 
the atoms of my thought, which is my mind's action, have another 
form and rate of vibration, all based on exact mathematical law, 
adjusted to an exact nicety, and most perfectly poised according 
to mathematical law. 

All things in their basic principles resemble all other things. 
As it is on one plane, so it is on another plane, and you are per- 
fectly safe in judging the unknown by the known, the invisible 
by the visible. As the anatomist can picture the whole animal 
by a bone, so can the student of truth picture the whole universe 
by a knowledge of a part, if the part that he has is founded on 
fact. 

Not long ago a gentleman, in criticising my work, said that 
I do not teach spiritual things. Now, let's see what are spiritual 
things. Where is the dividing line between material and spiritual 
things ? Is it not within yourself ? We are coming daily into a 
clearer understanding of the fact that there is no difference be- 
tween what we call material, and what we call spiritual substance. 
It is all the same. The dividing line is in our ability to perceive. 
If our vibration is slow and dense, naturally we can only perceive 
the slow and dense vibrations; as we raise our own vibrations 
we come into a clearer perception of the higher vibrations of the 
forces of nature. 



Vibration. 27 

Did you ever think in your study of nature and her laws, 
how many questions come into the mind in regard to this differ- 
entiation of spirit? If all is spirit, and all is the one substance, 
why is that lively, bustling fly such a different kind of spirit from 
this pencil in my hand, and why is this glass so different from 
the water within it, and if thoughts are things also and conse- 
quently spirit, why is my thought a different substances from the 
brain, which is the instrument for the mind to act upon ? Yes — 
there is no limit to the question — and all so easily answered and 
so easily comprehended from the standpoint of vibration, so let 
us see if in a very few words we cannot give the fundamental 
principle of the law of vibration, and explain some of the methods 
of the action of the law. 

This philosophy of vibration which I am giving you belongs 
to no special school, because it is the foundation of most of the 
schools of metaphysics. The trouble with the disciples of the so- 
called new thought is that their individual thought is so very 
new, they seem afraid to recognize how old their philosophy is — 
and having grasped one idea of truth, it seems such a marvelous 
thing that they not only want to patent it, but fail to analyze it, 
and see how beautifully it harmonizes with everything else that 
is true. 

The Universe is composed of atoms, and as we have seen 
all these atoms are spirit, one substance, one intelligence, one 



28 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

life, one universal mind. This great mind moves, and its motion 
produces an energy, a vibration by which, according to its form 
and rate, all spirit, all substance, all life is objectified and differ- 
entiated into form. 

This vibration then is the thought or the mind action of an 
Infinite Intelligence; so from the tiniest blade of grass to the 
thought of the individual mind of man, which corresponds to 
and in reality is one with the Infinite mind, all manifestation of 
spirit is the result of vibration. 

You see it is not difficult to comprehend; there is no mys- 
tery in it whatever ; all you have to do is to think about it. Vibra- 
tion is just what the literal meaning of the word implies, motion. 
Now we are taught by one of the greatest disciples of truth the 
world has ever received its messages from, that there are four 
modes of motion necessary for the manifestation of spirit into 
objective life in our solar system, and we are not speculating be- 
yond our own realm. Well do we know that if we understand 
ourselves and the planet on which we are having our present ex- 
periences, we have the foundation for that knowledge which is 
necessary for our work and development in other realms and 
spheres of life. 

This great disciple of Truth tells us there are four modes, 
although myraids of rates of vibration, necessary for the mani- 
festation of spirit. The rates are lesser or greater, lower or 



Vibration. 29 

higher, according to the Divine energy which is embodied in the 
form. Thus, in expressions of life which we call evil, the energy 
is so slow, so lacking, that the vibration is low, and what we call 
evil — all kinds of disease and inharmony result. 

The first form of motion is said to be straight, the second 
is circular, the third is spiral, and the fourth is called vortexian, 
which is the motion of the planets and a combination of all 
the others. The spiral motion is a combination of the circular 
and straight, and the circular is really only the continued 
straight, because a continued straight line would always return 
to its starting point. 

So little is known in the Occidental world about these differ- 
ent forms of vibration, and so few of the students of Truth con- 
sider its importance, that it is difficult to go into many details 
concerning it. As in so many questions where we are taking 
somebody's else teachings all kinds of theories come in, and some 
students say that the straight motion is the vibration of the min- 
erals and rocks, — that the spiral form, the motion of the cycles, 
is the vibration of the vegetable world, — and the vortexian motion 
is the vibration of the planets and what corresponds to the plane- 
tary motion in man. 

I rather think we shall have to progress much farther in our 
study of esoteric geometry before we know the forms of vibra- 
tion as applied to different manifestations of spirit, but our 



30 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

reasoning power shows us that all manifested form is the result 
of Divine Energy expressed in the law of vibration. 

The important part for us to realize is, that we as individuals 
are manifesting spirit according to our own rate of vibration, 
and we as individuals must stand responsible for our position in 
the Universe. Each atom which composes this body is an atom 
of spirit, and as we harmonize all these atoms of the body and 
raise their vibrations by attracting to them Divine energy, we 
express the perfect harmony of the whole. 

As the Universal mind's action results in manifested form, 
or what is called creation, and is the thought of God, so the 
mind's action of the individual manifests, creates or produces a 
powerful substance composed of atoms which we call thought, 
and which is the most subtle and powerful of any substance with 
which we have to deal; so you see the mind of a human being 
is creative, and under proper constructive training becomes a 
vast power for good. Action of all kind is only solidified 
thought ; it is the direct result of thought force or mind's action. 

The vibration of a human being is determined by the con- 
structive force with which he is infilled, and which is a part of 
himself. As long as there is even a small ray of constructive 
force in a man he is a part of the Infinite Spirit and must in a 
degree vibrate with it — and isn't it a beautiful thought that it is 
the most difficult thing in the world for a man to eliminate the 



Vibration. 31 

Divine spark and thereby destroy himself? Swedenborg tells 
us that as long as there is one atom of love, which is the great 
constructive principle, in a soul that it will be fanned into life 
by the angels; which means, of course, that it will attract its 
own, more of the love element from the Universe. 

God is love. Love is the constructive force, and every mani- 
festation of spirit is the result of that cohesive power of the 
constructive force of love, and vibration is the action, the motive 
power which produces that result. In itself it is nothing, but 
it is the method employed, the means to the end. 

Mere philosophy will never reveal the higher vibrations of 
life. The finer essences of nature are those that elude all philos- 
ophy and all language. The Intellect alone will never compre- 
hend the Supreme Intelligence. If it could, human beings would 
never dispute over their conceptions of God. The dear, ignorant 
creatures would know that a man who quarrels, no matter how 
highly educated he is, is shutting himself away from God, trying 
to separate himself from that which he imagines he is defending, 
and knows so much about. 

A man who really believes in God is one with God, a part 
of Him, infilled with Him, and God is love. Saying you believe 
in God does not make it so. Words are so cheap and meaning- 
less sometimes. A man who believes in God takes Him so into 
his life that he becomes Love itself. He realizes that all men 



32 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

are a part of himself, and criticism and condemnation of his 
fellow man is impossible. 

The only remedy for error and superstition is knowledge. 
Error is a low vibration of light and totally unfits the soul for 
truth. All so called sin is ignorance — ignoring the truth. How 
foolish to condemn a poor, ignorant man for the crime he com- 
mits, when maybe you yourself are responsible for his actions. 
Ah ! that is not a comforting thought, is it ? But let us put our 
light of common sense on it and see if it isn't true. 

In the first place, we are all one, some of us manifestly in a 
lower vibration of light than others, but all one in the Divine 
Intelligence. You may be polished, and encrusted with your 
intellectual pride, and may consider yourself incapable of any 
action but that of the highest virtue, and you probably are, ac- 
cording to your own understanding. But maybe you forget that 
your thought is a substance, and you may not hold it in the high 
vibration which your surroundings would imply. Possibly you 
consider yourself a little better than your fellow man, and per- 
haps you are condemning your brother or despising your sister 
because their standard of morality does not agree with yours. 
You might even have thoughts of envy and of how much better 
you could manage your neighbor's millions or your friend's tal- 
ent than they can. Ah! my dear, what becomes of those 



Vibration, 33 

thoughts ? Surely they are not lost. Suppose some deluded soul 
who is too ignorant to protect himself, who is negative in his 
nature, is just in the mental attitude to receive those projected 
thought vibrations of yours. What happens? He puts into 
action the hate generated by your thought. His action is your 
thought solidified. Your greater enlightenment teaches you re- 
pression of action. Your knowledge is not yet equal to control 
of the thought, but you can control the action. He is not yet 
wise enough to control the action. Do you see your responsi- 
bility ? We are all one. It is the law. 

Be ye perfect, is the new commandment, the new religion. 
Aim high ; you cannot aim too high, and every round you make 
in climbing the ladder of understanding leads you to a higher 
standard of perfection. Perfection according to your under- 
standing now, and perfection according to your greater under- 
standing as you grow into the greater light. There are no limita- 
tions to the doctrine of perfect love. "Perfect love casteth out 
fear," and fear is the one and only enemy of mankind. 

The world is divided into two great classes, those who love 
and those who fear. Fear is such utter darkness, and yet there 
are those who know no light but what to you is darkness. "The 
highest vibration of light is darkness and the lowest vibration of 
light is darkness." Now how can I make this clear to you? We 
will turn on our searchlight of reason and we shall soon see. 



34 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

I am giving you a lesson this afternoon which is quite clear 
to you. I can tell by the way you receive it that it is light to 
your mental vision. Do you suppose that dear young girl over 
there with her pretty fluffy head full of her beauty and her rib- 
bons and her good times would comprehend this lesson which 
is light to you and me? No; to her it is darkness, and where 
she stands we have passed long ago. The light that surrounds 
her is darkness to you and me. When you are accustomed to a 
dark room the light of the sun is painful to the physical eye, and 
when you are in the low vibration, the darkness of error, the 
truth is painful to the mental vision and is darkness until you 
become accustomed to it. 

To-day many things are perfectly clear and light to you, 
that even one short year ago were dark. You have come into 
the higher vibration of light and the darkness of that higher vi- 
bration is now light to you. 

There are two ways of working; one is from within and the 
other is from without. The old idea was to work from without 
in, but the Esoteric law teaches to work from within out. When 
you work from within you work from love. The age of ruling 
men by fear has vanished and the time of rule by love has come, 
but the old ways and customs cling most tenaciously. 

If you would only realize how much easier things would 
come to you if you didn't try so painfully hard to get them! 



/ 



Vibration. 35 

Try the plan of relaxing — give up — let go. Realize that you 
are not the most important thing in the world. If you should lay 
down your body to-day and go on to other spheres, the sun 
would rise just the same to-morrow morning, and the birds 
would sing just as sweetly. Your world is within you, and your 
entire concern is with yourself. Be ye perfect. Your responsi- 
bility ceases there. 

Do you know you cannot even conceive of a quality that you 
do not possess in some degree within yourself, and it rests with 
you whether you attract to yourself happiness or trouble, ease or 
disease. Many people go out of their way to look for trouble, 
and if that is the vibration of light to which they adjust them- 
selves they can have all they want of it, for it is very easy to 
find. As that blessed old character, Eben Holden, says, "Ye can 
go to meetin' or ye can go fishin'." It all depends on the "I am" 
within you. 

Yes, my dear, as I said before, the only true way of acquir- 
ing knowledge and of developing the soul is to work from within 
out. You cannot reform people by using hatchets on them, and 
you cannot terrorize them into knowledge. If you will only raise 
your own vibrations you will do more to help humanity than in 
any other way. If you raise yourself, you raise all men to you. 
A truth that is truth in the year one is true in the year nineteen 
hundred and one. 



36 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

There is one person who must not be deluded, and that is 
yourself, and the strangest thing to me is the way people love 
to delude themselves. Be true to yourself and you will be true 
to your fellow man. 

You are an individual. No other person's experience can be 
the same as yours. In this great oneness is an infinite variety of 
experience and an infinite variety of individuals, and each indi- 
vidual attracts the experience necessary for his evolution by exact 
mathematical law of vibration. You and you alone are respon- 
sible for your experience, and you alone attract your conditions 
and surroundings. 

I know it seems severe, but did I not tell you that truth de- 
mands a high price? It is the most useless thing in the world 
to think you are the victim of fate or circumstance. Take your 
conditions as you find them and master them if they are not in 
harmony with yourself. If you haven't sufficient strength, pray 
for it, breathe for it, as I told you in our last lesson. Don't let 
anything master you. Are you, the microcosm of the universe, 
not greater than any other thing in the universe? 

What do you suppose is the greatest barrier to the develop- 
ment of the soul ? A barrier which is so subtle that it sometimes 
blinds and blunts the senses. It is selfishness. We want to be 
free but we hold those we love in such bondage that we bind 
ourselves and limit ourselves beyond all understanding. Do you 



Vibration. 37 

remember a sentence once spoken by the greatest teacher the 
world has yet known — "He who loses his life gains it." I will 
not try to say one word in explanation of it, but ask you to con- 
centrate upon it in the light of reason and see what it reveals. See 
if it does not show you that selfishness is the greatest hindrance 
in the world to attaining the desire of your soul. 

I know, my dear, you do try most earnestly to be good; but 
what does it mean to "be good" anyway? All morality is 
merely a matter of opinion. You tell a child to "be good," and 
it is a meaningless phrase to him until you teach him what your 
version of goodness is, and then he only knows from your stand- 
point. A baby thinks to stop crying is to be good; and when 
it comes to great big babies, what do they think? That it's a 
great virtue and a glorious thing to go to war and murder their 
fellow men, but a most heinous crime for a hungry man to help 
himself to the millionaire's dollar without permission, if he is 
smart enough to get hold of it. 

Oh, yes; we are very sensible, especially on the questions 
of morality and virtue! What lines we do draw — and every 
man judges his fellow man and quite forgets whether he is liv- 
ing up to the real standard, providing he is living up to the 
standard of his particular section of the country. 

He who has the courage to think for himself and the heart 
to understand, knows that the old falsities are passing away, and 



38 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

that the higher truth, the truth of the Spirit, is gradually and 
steadily pervading all grades of humanity. Nature is revealing 
her secrets to man as never before, because he is seeking in the 
light of the spirit; and oh, my friends, from the seed planted in 
the human heart to the seed planted in the ground, nature reveals 
herself to him who wills to know. 

So many people think because they haven't had what the 
world calls an education they cannot comprehend the Esoteric 
Teachings. Dear me, what a mistake. Do you know, I am ac- 
quainted with people who have been through all the colleges they 
could find an excuse for entering, and then taken post-graduate 
courses in literature and the fine arts, who cannot comprehend 
the higher forces of nature sufficiently to keep from condemning 
their fellow man and telling fibs whenever it is convenient, thus 
attracting to themselves all kinds of inharmonious vibrations. 
Now, what is the use of masses of information about the past 
iniquities of mankind or the dead languages, or ancient Greek 
art, if you are going through life sick, and poor, and unhappy, 
because you do not comprehend nature's laws sufficiently to polar- 
ize yourself according to them and vibrate in the law of Love ? 

To be sure, "To know is to have eternal life," but you must 
commence by knowing yourself; you must work from within out, 
and you must think and live in Freedom. Only free men can live 



Vibration. 39 

the Truth, and as much freedom as you shut out, so much falsity 
do you let in. 

Esoteric Philosophy is simply the philosophy of real things. 
It does away with delusion, shows the correspondence between 
the seen and the unseen, and the connection between so called 
theories and the practical use of those theories. In the esotric 
teachings use determines all things, and when you come into a 
recognition of that truth you will save much time and not waste 
so many opportunities. 

Unless I can be of use to you, or you can be of use to me, 
what object is there in our association ? Did you ever hear of a 
lot of women meeting together to play cards for the purpose of 
killing time? Killing Time! Are they losing their senses, when 
every moment of time killed reacts in disintegrating forces? 

No one recognizes more than I the right of every human 
being to think as he pleases, live as he pleases, and waste his 
blessed opportunities if he wishes to, but it is "too bad" to kill 
the most precious thing in the world. 

If you will only think, you will soon see the use in every- 
thing and turn your association into the higher vibration of use, 
instead of the lower one of idleness and waste. If you want to 
keep young and "healthy and wealthy and wise," you must build, 
and utilize your forces, not scatter them. 



40 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

There never was a time when this dear old world was so 
plentifully supplied with cranks. God bless them. They bob 
up serenely in all manner of places and they are so full of their 
special hobby and so desirous that you should see things just as 
they do — and how interesting they are. I met one the other day 
who peacefully informed me that he was the greatest man in 
the world; could cure any disease or misfortune in the world, 
and was growing younger every minute. He put me on his list 
for daily treatment because I am a crank like himself and he 
loves me. He sends vibrations daily to people who pay him 
twenty-five dollars, and to those whom he loves, and as he makes 
a specialty of loving even-body in the Universe and recognizing 
the oneness of things, I suppose you all get treated just the same 
as though you paid your twenty-five dollars. It's all right, 
though ; we need these cranks. Conservatism has to be destroyed 
some way. When people begin to think, they begin to squirm. 
When you put a seed into the ground and it begins to recognize 
the life force within itself it immediately proceeds to turn around 
and burst. It is individualizing itself. The growing tree will 
shatter the rock, and the growing thought will shatter conserva- 
tism. 

There is one thing that we must have, no matter what it 
costs, and that is Truth. Everything has its price, and we must 



Vibration. 41 

for everything we have, but for truth we pay the dearest be- 
cause it is the only thing in the world that is everlasting. You 
can't print anything else on your soul "for keeps." All pain is 
ieluiiir. I: lies r_:: :el:r.r :: ;:.; :v '.:~z~ thin :r.t r.t:ti- 
sary time for its note of warning. 

This high price that we must pay for Truth is the renuncia- 
tion of self and personality. It is living the life of reality and 
tearing* down the barriers which we have raised by selfishi 
nation of our brother. 
: one person or organization of persons has a corner on 
Truth. In this world to which we come for our studies of re- 
ality, Truth is as free as the love which enfolds ns. as free as 
the atmosphere sur r oun ding the Earth- In the world of delusion. 
..:--: .-. : .-. :- : . ~ - _- .;:.;; t .-. = chat some people get an idea that 
:'iev irt ::\t ::./ ires ::: ire : :.r. r.z'rz. :.r.i :'-i: :r.ly :y zz':~z 
their way can the goal be reached. What goal are they trj 
to reach, any ■ ilaybe they think because they can 1 
reserved seat in church they can buy a reserved seat in Heaven. 
.-:-- : : .■.:.: :."':: zalied Heaven, which lets in a man 

who rejoices that he is inside in comfort while h:_ ; ::::/.-: is o-ut- 
irs-cair? 
- : : t ■ . . ; ■ [f all these dear, conventional people who are 
so much better than their fellow men are going to Heaven 



42 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

wouldn't you rather be where the really interesting people are, 
those who dare to think, wherever that place may be? 

It seems a difficult truth for some people to realize that 
money will not buy understanding and that a man can have 
nothing that does not belong to him. If you refuse to see beyond 
your own dooryard, is no sign that the world does not lie beyond, 
and if you refuse to perceive the marvelous realities of the uni- 
verse, it is no proof that they are not there for him who has the 
ability to see. However, it is just as well to commence at the 
place where we are standing and evolve into the higher. It is 
just as well to use your common sense and walk, until you have 
the strength to fly. Common sense teaches you to eat when you 
are hungry, and rest when you are weary. Become as a little 
child, and when you are strong enough so that you do not need 
food and drink and care for your body, then do without, but the 
chances are when that time comes you will do without your 
body. Were you ever present when a great truth was suddenly 
made manifest to a concourse of people ? How well I remember 
during the World's Fair in Chicago, at the Parliament of Re- 
ligions, when the thought of the oneness of all things was re- 
vealed to my intelligence. A teacher from the Orient stood be- 
fore us, with his serene dignity, his quiet, calm voice, his per- 
fect poise making him such a fitting instrument for the simple 
yet wonderful teachings of the philosophy of daily living which 



Vibration. 43 

he was giving us. As he closed his lecture he used these words, 
"We are one." Like a flash of glorious sunshine came into the 
depths of my being the realization of the unity of all things — 
and over all that great audience came a hush — a stillness so great 
that it seemed the highest vibration of a great sound wave echo- 
ing again and again those marvelous words, "We are one" — 
not only all men, but all the atoms of this mighty Universe, all 
one, only differing in their rate of vibration. 

All one! Does it not open wondrous realms of thought? 
Does it not reveal to us our responsibility not only for each 
other, but for everything which is created? All one. There is 
the keynote. We are individual and we are one. We stand 
alone and we stand with all men. Our personality is now mani- 
fested in the higher vibration of individuality, and our relation 
to the eternal principle of life everlasting is oneness with it. 

Let us build on the rock of unity. It is such a big, strong 
rock. No wave of delusion can possibly wash it away. Unity is 
a universal harmonious law. Humanity is all one; nature is all 
one, differentiated by vibratory law. As the man is the micro- 
cosm of the Universe, so is the atom the microcosm of the man. 
Individual intelligence constitutes the atom and individual intelli- 
gence moves the Universe. 

Now, how can we condemn each other and how can we 
despise each other, when our relation is so close that we are one 



44 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

with each other? Just look at that in the light of reason and 
common sense, please. You see, when you think about things 
they begin to change and the real side, the true side, begins 
to show. 

The fact is man is the embodiment of the creative principle, 
and his creations are the manifestations of his thought. Now 
just think of this, every vibration sent out by the action of the 
mind means life or death to something, that is, it is either con- 
structive or destructive in its effect, and the effect is frequently 
on the atoms of the body of the one who sends the thought. 
Every thought sent out embodies either love or fear. Love is 
construction and fear is destruction, and all thought acts by 
reflex law on the sender. 

You see you are the arbiter of your own destiny, the ruler 
of your own life, and in very truth the creator of yourself. A 
human being is the greatest magnet in existence, attracting just 
what he gives, and receiving vibrations from the Universe ac- 
cording to the quality of life impressed upon the soul, and radi- 
ated from within. 

Let me tell you one very useful thing to do. You know we 
receive so much during the hours when the objective senses are 
in repose. Sleep is the result of over active life force. It is not 
weariness from low action, but weariness and sleepiness are the 



Vibration. 45 

warning that the action of the life force is too high in its vibra- 
tion for the instrument to assimilate; so the objective senses are 
locked in repose while the subjective mind readjusts and harmon- 
izes conditions. Don't you know after intense excitement, either 
mental or physical, the body always demands sleep? and unless 
its demands are acceeded to the result is most inharmonious. 

In order to receive the best results from sleep it is well to 
suggest to your higher self just what impression you wish made 
upon the soul. Calm yourself and raise the vibration of the 
mind's action by deep breathing and repeating some beautiful 
mantrim or some song of praise to Jehovah. The whole circula- 
tion will change and every breath you draw during the time your 
objective senses are locked in slumber will be life giving and 
strengthening. 

The soul life is the great consideration, the entire object of 
our sojourn on this planet is to develop and educate the soul that 
its vibrations may be constantly raised and constructed accord- 
ing to Divine law. As the mind moves or vibrates, going out 
in the universe in search of knowledge and experience, only those 
experiences are retained which are imprinted upon the soul, and 
we reflect into objectivity those impressions, because the soul's 
vibrations are radiated through the physical expression, and if 
the body, the mind and the soul vibrate in harmony the effect is 
construction and life. 



46 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Do you know that all vibrations of a spiritual nature travel 
on waves of magnetic force, and that by cultivating the spiritual 
thought you strengthen your magnetic force? You think it is 
such a valuable quality, this magnetic force, and so it is, and the 
sure way to increase your own magnetic power by attracting this 
force from the Universe, is to live the higher life and vibrate in 
the law of love. 

Magnetism increases the life force, and there cannot be an 
enduring physical or mental power unless the magnetism is 
strong. If you wish to increase your power, purify your quality 
of life, and cultivate your magnetic power, you must think con- 
structively and spiritually and so raise your vibrations. 

Love is the highest vibration of a strong life force. In its 
higher vibration it is construction and in its lowest vibration it 
is destruction. Just as cold is the absence of heat, so is hate the 
absence of love. Many of these qualities which we think are so 
dreadful are only the lower vibration of a force that in its higher 
vibration is beautiful. To illustrate : Suppose your child pre- 
varicates. Instead of condemning him for falsifying, suppose 
you help him raise his vibrations, and realize that it is only a 
perverted imagination ; then purify by love that little imagination 
until it becomes ideality, the beautiful thing it is intended to be. 
If we would only be a little more charitable and send a few vibra- 



Vibration. 47 

tions of love to these people who are vibrating on the lower plane 
we might have geniuses instead of criminals. 

Again, unless there is a vibration in ourselves, correspond- 
ing to the trait we condemn, it would be impossible for us to per- 
ceive the so-called evil. It is an old but true saying that "It takes 
a thief to catch a thief." We cannot comprehend a vibration that 
is not in our own being ; and we are all very much alike. We vi- 
brate differently, that is all ; so let us teach people a few of nature's 
laws and soon the low vibration of selfishness, which is disinte- 
grating humanity, will be raised to the higher vibration of selfless- 
ness ; and we realize that we are in truth all one. 

There is only one way that earthly life can be worth living ; 
and that is when you introduce the thought of an eternal life, and 
eternal progression ; and the only way you can reasonably conceive 
of an eternal life is in the light of the law of vibration. Life is 
transcendently worth living, when we perceive the truth of vi- 
bratory force. When we learn that law. and through it vibrate 
in the higher law of love, the spiritual consciousness then becomes 
the normal life ; and the spiritual and inner light reveal to us the 
truth. In order to produce a spiritual growth in the soul, a human 
being must be in harmony with himself; he must understand 
himself, and he must be true to himself to really understand him- 
self. He must also love himself in the just and perfect way. in 
order to be true to himself. 



48 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Above all, never condemn yourself or have any regrets for 
past misdirected efforts and apparent failures. Don't be afraid 
to love yourself and everybody else. The more love you give, 
the more you receive, and the more you have to radiate. Nothing 
so vivifies the conditions, nothing so elevates the surroundings 
and the personality, as vibrating in the law of love. 

The teacher in the east never argues. He simply says : 
"This or that is a fact. I give you this principle of Truth ; go to 
nature for the proof. Here are the keys of knowledge. Open the 
doors of your own soul and look for yourself." The teacher in 
the west illustrates, argues and tries to prove his teachings. The 
eastern sage is wise. Well does he know that no man can teach 
another. He can inspire him. He can lead him to the fountain 
of truth ; but each human being must perceive for himself, must 
carve out his own pathway. It is the Divine light within, which 
must illuminate the way. 

So, when a new thought comes before us, let us become as 
little children who haven't grown too wise to love one another. 
Let us not condemn ; but let us look at it and think about it. We 
may find therein life everlasting. Let us remember that to-day 
we are one day in advance of yesterday. The whole world has 
grown one day, and its vibrations have changed. A truth may 
find a resting place here to-day, that yesterday could not have 
been perceived. O Charity ! Truly the greatest of all is charity ! 



CONCENTRATION 



9 



CONCENTRATION 

O you remember the story in that most beautiful of live 
books., "Mother Goose,'' about the old woman who tried 
to lift herself over the fence in her tub? Dear me! how 
vividly comes back my childish wonder as I saw her ample pro- 
portions filling up the tub. and imagined her utterly futile at- 
tempt to move it. It would be so easy if she would only get out 
and put the tub over and then climb over after it, but the dear, fat 
old woman knew better — she would stay in the tub and get over 
in her own way. Bless her heart ! she is only like most other 
folks. How seldom do they put the motive power where it be- 
longs. And, why don't they, you ask? I will tell you in very 
few words. Because they don't think properly. They don't con- 
trol the mind and compel it to think right, and until they do they 
cannot put the motive power where it belongs. They must stay 
in the tub until somebody else puts them over. 

Oh, the pity of it ! How few of these wonderful minds are 
used right. How few individuals there are in this world. What 
a refreshing and inspiring thing it is to meet an individual; a 
man who thinks, and who uses his mind to make use of all the 
wonderful knowledge which is his by divine right, instead of 



50 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

scattering his life force through sheer inability to think in a 
straight line. 

Let me tell you something. A man is incapable of asking 
a question that he cannot answer for himself. He could not 
form it in his mind if he had not the power of answering it. 
The question is the beginning of the thought the answer is simply 
the completed thought. But he must be capable of concentrating 
his thought and holding it steadily according to his will. 

Do you know the first stumbling block every one encounters 
in his study of "real things" is, that he cannot concentrate ! The 
one cry is, "Teach me to concentrate." so that is our first and 
strong point. Indeed, it has to come first because nothing could 
follow without it. 

What is concentration, anyway ? It is this : To centralize 
and utilize, in the highest sense, every force within ; and through 
the within control every force without. Round out and equal- 
ize on all planes, and do it by controlling the thought. 

Thoughtlessness is wasted time, and wasted time is wasted 
opportunity. To be thoughtless is to be unreasonable, and true 
virtue consists in being reasonable. 

In our class work we have a way of calling our Philosophy 
"The Philosophy of common sense." We believe in permeating 
everything with common sense. While we are a group of pe- 
culiar and individual cranks, we are so tempered with common 



Concentration. 51 

sense and real reasonableness that we love everybody and are 
tolerant of every one's opinion; we come together in harmony 
and study truth for truth's sake. 

While we do not always agree about everything, one thing 
we do agree about perfectly, and that is that we want to know 
things. We are positively voracious in our desire for knowl- 
edge, and we know the law well enough to know that the surest 
step toward acquiring knowledge is to desire it, and after having 
the true desire, all is ours. 

How clearly a face comes before me, one of our dear mem- 
bers, who said to me the very first time she came to our class : 
"Do you mean to tell me that I have a right to and ought to have 
everything I want?" Why not, dearie, if your motive is pure; 
you only want what belongs to you, and doesn't everything you 
need for the happiness and health of your body, mind, and soul, 
belong to you? I fail to see why a man should be poor on any 
plane, financially, physically, mentally, or spiritually. The Uni- 
verse is so big and so full, and you are simply its reflection ; why 
shouldn't you have your own share out of it, and your own share 
is just as much as you can hold. 

Poverty on any one plane disturbs the harmony of every 
other plane. No matter how highly cultured you are, no matter 
how buoyant is your physical life, if you have not sufficient 
money for your needs, it spoils the whole combination. And 



52 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

again, no matter how much money a man has, if he is sick or 
blind or has any physical ill, where is his harmony and strength ? 
Now, we believe that the cure all is to know things. Not only 
that knowledge which is of the intellect, but knowledge of the 
Soul; knowledge combined with understanding, that indeed is 
Eternal life. 

How are we going to gain this knowledge ? We are going 
to study ourselves, and help every one we can to study himself. 
We are going to know how to breathe, what to eat, and how to 
absorb in every way the life forces of the universe, and we are 
going to train our minds to think as we desire. 

The time is past when men can refuse to listen to the warn- 
ing voice. We have now come to a place in our Evolution when 
the vibration of Earth is too high for many of its children, and 
they must think, or do you know what will happen? They will 
be unable to stay here and finish their experiences. In very truth 
the man who will not raise his vibrations will have to "get off 
the earth." because the physical body is attuned to its counter- 
part of the Universe, Mother Earth, and when the man is not 
in harmony with it. it very quickly disintegrates. 

Of course you will say. Cannot the mind control the body? 
To be sure, that is exactly the point. You must control the 
mind, lest in its action it is destructive instead of constructive. 
The mind is the instrument of the Soul, and must be kept at- 



Concentration'. 53 

tuned and in perfect harmony. The Objective Mind must be 
one with the Subjective; in fact the whole man must be harmon- 
ized, and he must be taught Concentration, for it's the sure way. 

It is our duty to remain in this Physical body as long as 
we have need of Earth's experiences. As is explained in the 
following lesson, we want to be wide awake and thoroughly 
alive when we get ready to leave our bodies and go on for further 
experiences. We want to use our opportunities so we can go 
into the next life in the full strength of our individuality. 

Concentrate! Of course you can concentrate. You must 
think that you can ; if you knew the barrier it creates you would 
never admit that anything is impossible or even difficult — the 
thought accentuates the condition. Practice and try not one 
time but many times, and when you have learned to control the 
thought you will soon control the conditions. 

How many people do you suppose really think, really con- 
centrate their thought, and if they do think, how many have the 
power of directing the thought as the will desires? 

Think of the possibilities of a human being and the harum- 
scarum condition of the minds of most of them. And really it 
is not surprising when you consider the gorging the mind is 
sometimes forced to endure. I have seen people, supposedly 
sensible, sit down to breakfast with a newspaper as well as their 
breakfast before them, and while they were loading the poor, 



54 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

abused stomach with all kinds of indigestibles, they were loading 
the much abused mind with equally indigestible stuff. Murder, 
horrors of all kinds mixed in with politics and abuse of their 
fellow man, and all seasoned with accounts of the opera and the 
latest new books. Dear me ! such a chaotic mixture that it is no 
wonder the man has mental dyspepsia and wonders why he is 
unfortunate and is the victim of fate when he always tries to do 
exactly right. 

Nature is always kind; but when outraged, her laws com- 
pletely violated, she must rebel. It is not according to nature's 
laws to do three or four things at a time, and you must concen- 
trate on the one thing you are doing if you expect to make a 
success of life. 

When you eat, you must eat consciously, so you can absorb 
the life forces from your food as well as the material part of it. 
You must concentrate on everything you do, even such an ap- 
parently simple thing as taking your bath in the morning; take 
it consciously and absorb all the vital life there is in the water. 

It is such a common complaint, "I cannot concentrate." 
There is no such word in the vocabulary of a sensible man as 
cannot. You can do anything any other human being can do; 
and maybe a little more than any one has yet done, for does 
not each day bring added opportunities, and are you not greater 
than any circumstance or condition that may come to you? 



Concentration. 55 

If you imagine you are unable to concentrate you can cer- 
tainly learn how, and if you intend to be successful on any plane 
of life you must learn. There is a way. You may not be able to 
do it in a moment, or even in a month ; but practice, practice and 
never give up until you have mastered. 

What are we on this planet for anyway? Use determines 
all things, and if it were not for some use, some purpose in the 
Divine plan we would not be here. It seems reasonable to sup- 
pose that our first duty while here is to conform to the funda- 
mental principle of use and so train ourselves to that end. As 
the soul is that part of the man capable of life everlasting, it 
must be the highest use to devote our energies to the Soul. 

Soul development then is our way to develop to its highest 
expression that part of the microcosm which is eternal life. Now 
the instrument which the soul uses is the mind, and the instru- 
ment of the mind is the physical body. The principle which is 
used by this wonderful human being is the will, an attribute of 
the Supreme principle of Love, and this mind must be trained; 
then, to perform its highest use by the direction of the will. 

There is a way to accomplish all things ; and if you cannot 
think as you desire to, cannot control your mind, there is a way 
of training your mind through the effort of the will to do as 
that will directs. 



56 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Of course it is easier to drift, but who wants to drift? That 
is disintegration ; we want life, vital life, and we want to master 
our conditions and conquer on all planes of existence, and what's 
more, we're going to do it. That is our Divine right, and when 
we follow the direction of the will, illumined by understanding, 
we always fulfill the law, for the understanding is the light — it 
is knowledge absorbed by the Soul. 

We have seen in our previous lessons that thought is the 
mind's action, the vibration of the mind. The mind in its action 
goes out into the Universe seeking experience, which according 
to its strength it imprints upon the soul. How important that 
it should gain experiences which are of use — that the thought 
should be concentrated to gain the greatest strength for its work. 

Mental dyspepsia is demoralizing to the mind and weaken- 
ing to the soul. Don't waste force. Don't be in a hurry. You 
have all the time there is, and moving slowly and concentrating 
the thought upon what you are doing is the surest economy in 
the world. Hold your thought on what you are doing, and it 
means strength on whatever plane you are working. 

Work never made any one weary. It is inharmony and 
scattering the forces that is disintegration. Weariness is simply 
a sign of destruction; the cells are rebelling and warning you 
that they will strike if you impose on their rights much longer. 
When you are tired, go off alone, fill your body with life by 



Concentration. 57 

breathing love into it, and concentrate on some high and noble 
thought for a few moments. You will change your vibration 
of destruction into one of construction at once. 

Yes, you say, but it is so hard to concentrate. Is it ? Well, 
almost everything worth knowing is difficult, but I'm going to 
give you some real easy exercises and soon you will say, "It is 
just beautiful to concentrate. How did I ever succeed in any- 
thing before I learned how to use my mind?" 

Of course we must recognize that we are living in peculiar 
and exciting times. Never before has the vibration of earth 
been so high. Never have conditions seemed so complex, and 
never has the opportunity for soul development been so great. 
So much more reason why we should concentrate, why we should 
control the mind and so overcome ourselves and our surround- 
ing conditions. It can be done; the keynote for all overcoming 
and for all knowledge is concentration. 

It is impossible to breathe correctly until you know how to 
concentrate. Some of you may imagine that because you in- 
voluntarily move the lungs that you are breathing the breath of 
life; no indeed, until you understandingly absorb the essence of 
life in the atmosphere you do not breathe as you should. 

To be sure some people concentrate more naturally than 
others; If you love anything you are very apt to concentrate 
upon it. Some children are said to be smart, others stupid. The 



58 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

difference is that one child unconsciously concentrates, and the 
other child scatters its forces. Froebel knew the secret. He was 
an occult student and knew this law, so by teaching the child 
concentration, he has done more for humanity than is possible 
to estimate. 

One dear little kindergarten wee wee said to me, looking at 
an orange, "I see a pretty light coming out of that orange." 
Dear child; she had learned to concentrate and she saw the 
orange as it was, even the surrounding aura, for every object 
radiates an aura and is surrounded by it, and the trained eye will 
see it. All children do not grasp so thoroughly, but they per- 
ceive in a way that children who have not the kindergarten ad- 
vantages, do not so easily. 

So many teachers and healers talk about affirming and de- 
nying; that is all right, but do they tell you the whys of things? 
You make the affirmation "I am life." Of course you are life, 
but why, how, and what are your responsibilities in regard to 
this life that you are? Let us concentrate about that. Again 
they say "All is good." "There is no evil." Surely that is true, 
but why isn't there evil, when the agonies of disintegration are 
everywhere? What law is it that proves that evil is simply the 
lower vibration of good? What is the use of saying something 
if your mind isn't on it, and you do not perceive with your very 
soul senses what you are saying? Concentrate about this; put 



Concentration. 59 

your mind on the affirmation you are making, and don't imagine 
that you are life until you perceive what life is, and impress it 
upon your soul. 

In the study of the higher law, concentration is the first les- 
son. It cannot be impressed too strongly. You must discrimi- 
nate and absorb with every physical sense, and you will raise the 
vibration of the seven physical senses; you must concentrate 
them all in one, and separate them when you will ; you must be 
able to turn the mind within into its innermost depths and see 
yourself as you are — In short, you, your individual self, shall by 
concentration be centered and controlled. 

No man ever made a success of business if he could not 
concentrate. No woman ever was a good housekeeper if she 
could not place her mind upon her home. No musician ever 
mastered his instrument unless he trained his mind and his 
whole body to that end and concentrated upon it. Let me tell 
you again and again, it is the keynote. You must learn to con- 
centrate to succeed in anything. 

In commencing the study and practice of concentration, it 
has been found more satisfactory to center the mind upon some 
external object. Madam Blavatsky was a deep student of con- 
centration, and in her teaching makes a special point of it. One 
day, in speaking on the subject, she pointed to a matchbox lying 



60 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

on the table and said, "I can so center my mind on that match- 
box that I can believe myself alone in the universe with only 
that object before me." That is concentration, to place the mind 
upon an object or any subject to the exclusion of everything else 
in existence. 

In taking any exercise in concentration, as in doing every- 
thing else in life, you must use your common sense; when the 
eyes grow weary, stop — that is your warning. One class of 
students might have better results from a candle, and another 
group might do better with a crystal or a glass of water. In 
our classes we have tried many methods, but the most satis- 
factory results have been obtained with a lighted candle. Some- 
times we have taken flowers, and it is wonderful and really piti- 
ful to see their delicate life fade with the withering force of the 
strong thought centered upon them; where the concentration is 
co-operative we have had a rose wither in five minutes. 

Possibly you will think that the thought sent out was a 
disintegrating thought. No ; it might have been a thought of 
love, but centered with such force upon the rose that the vibra- 
tion was too high for its enduring power. You know some- 
times the sun rays become so powerful they destroy instead of 
construct, and you can readily see how important it is to control 
the mind and do your work understanding^, or the thought 
forces may master you instead of you mastering them. 



Concentration. 61 

Let me give you a little exercise in concentration with a 

Place it lighted upon a table near the center of the room. 
If it is a group of several students, form a circle around the 
table. If you are trying it alone, seat yourself before the table 
with your back to the outside light 

Place your feet firmly on the floor with the hands on the 
knees, head erect, and the whole body in the positive attitude. 

w fix your vision on the flame and with a physical effort 
exhale all the air in the lungs; and with a mental effort throw 
all thought out of the mind. 

v reverse the effort and take a deep breath — breathe in 
widths, breathe deeply and regular'.". 

Now center the mind, through the eyes, upon the flame of 
that candle and hold it there as long as you can without dis- 
comfort. You may be able to do so for two minutes the first 
time, but if you can hold the mind on the flame for thirty 
seconds to the exclusion of all else, you have done well. 

Then close the eyes and you will see the light for an instant 
with the closed eyes. Hold them closed until the vision of the 
candle has disappeared, then open them and try again. 

In class work it is a good plan to have the candle removed 
during the concentration exercise, while the students are looking 
at it, and it frequently happens that the image of the candle on 



62 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

the table remains before the eyes several moments after the ma- 
terial candle has been removed. 

The same exercise can be taken with a glass of water, and 
when the concentration is co-operative, the water in the glass 
will move, showing that thought is not only a substance, but a 
tremendous reality, a mighty force, the most powerful force in 
the universe because the most subtle, and capable of penetrating 
the heights and the depths of its immensity. 

After a few days' practice with concentration you will 
notice how very much longer you can hold the gaze upon the 
candle, and how much longer its flame remains in your vision 
when the eyes are closed. Soon you will see the aura of the 
candle, and you will be surprised at the different view you will 
take of everything before your eyes. Life itself will become 
more real, for you are commencing to open your senses to 
reality. 

All these exercises are only practice, the means to an end, 
but practice is necessary. You practice your scales on the piano 
to be able to materialize grand harmonies of sound, so you 
practice control of the thought to enable you to use the mind to 
instill into the soul life grand harmonies of universal love. 

When you have trained your mind so that it will obey your 
will even in a slight degree, turn your attention to a higher vi- 
bration of practice and take some word to concentrate upon. 



Concentration. 63 

Suppose now that you had often desired to know the real inner 
meaning- of the word "Faith," — beautiful word, carrying with 
it a Heavenly vibration of Love and Hope; what does it mean? 
Place your mind upon the word and think. If you cannot hold 
it steadily, keep saying it out loud ; if that won't do, write it in 
big letters and pin it on the wall before you. Insist, demand, 
and keep on until you can succeed in making the necessary im- 
pression upon your mind. When you can hold that word in 
your mind and throw out every other thought for the time 
being, you will be surprised at the wonderful meaning it will 
have for you; and as you absorb its vibrations, making them 
yours, you will realize the wonderful truth of the teachings of 
the Master, "Ask and it shall be yours." 

Oh. Life ! Beautiful life, incomprehensible only because we 
will not comprehend; Valueless because we will not take pos- 
session of its countless treasures. He who will but study him- 
self, learn to concentrate, shall find all its unspeakable joys, all 
; acred mysteries revealed to his enraptured gaze. Through 
the avenue of concentration will he come into that Divine En- 
lightenment which is his own. 

There is no reason why a man should be ignorant, no 
reason why his capacity is limited except for lack of power to 
concentrate, and that is possible to overcome. There is no reason 
why a man should be poor or sick except because of his ignor- 



64 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

ance; he ignores the laws of his being because he has not con- 
centrated upon them sufficiently to know them, but it is never 
too late to commence ; control the mind, and when once you have 
control of the mind you will control your own life conditions. 

To desire anything with a pure motive is to deserve it. He 
who desires Occult Knowledge, whose motive is unselfish, is as- 
sured of the fulfillment of his desire; but oh, ye Students of 
Truth ! After having once taken the step of becoming a disciple of 
Truth in its higher vibration, there is no turning back. When 
a man makes the decision, either consciously or unconsciously, 
to find himself, when he consecrates himself to unite his Ob- 
jective and Subjective mind, he finds his mentality and will 
power increasing, and every step he takes means progression; it 
is always onward, upward, a never ending growth. 

Too long we have thought that 'There is nothing great in 
the Universe but man and there is nothing great in man but 
mind." That is a most material view of this marvelous micro- 
cosm. There is something far greater in man than mind, some- 
thing which is vaster, something which is sublimer, something 
which as he catches a glimpse of it seems to the man like a ray 
of light that has come down into his mind from something that 
is above, and yet he recognizes that it is a radiation of and is 
really a part of himself; his higher self, as it were, struggling for 
recognition. 



Concentration. 65 

Now what you must do is to become acquainted with your- 
self. You will be surprised how interesting you are. Analyze 
\our feelings, your emotions, and see what your motives are; 
think, look within and study yourself. It takes time to grow. 
and do you know another thing, growth is painful; you must 
pay the price for everything you gain in life, and those who 
know tell us that all things have their price, but for truth we 
pay the dearest — but it is well worth any price; its value is un- 
speakable. 

The mission of the Soul is to individualize the Spirit, and 
the instrument of the soul is the mind. There is no time to lose ; 
unless the mind is controlled how are you going to impress the 
experiences of life upon the soul, how are you going to use 
your opportunity and make your individuality a real and ever- 
lasting truth? The control of the mind, concentration of 
thought , not only gives power to overcome conditions of earth, 
but far greater power, power of becoming one with the Father, 
of having and being a Divine expression of life. 

Life is a grand reality. We are only in our embryotic state 
on this planet. The greater life commences when we are born 
on the next plane, but how important it is that we shall be 
born alive, awake, and ready to fulfill the law, instead of a poor 
weakling who has to be breathed into life by stronger souls. To 
be born conscious, that is the great responsibility, and if the op- 



66 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

portunities which are ours are utilized, we shall certainly find 
that knowledge which means consciousness on higher planes. 

The Persian poet wrote: "There is no Heaven nor Hell 
but that which man creates for himself." He might have added 
with equal truth that man creates himself, builds himself around 
the life which is his. He does it by his thought, just as he 
creates his conditions by his thought. So again let me impress 
upon you the importance of concentration; according to your 
thought are you created, for you are recreated, reincarnated 
daily. You change every hour, and the change is the result of 
the thought. So think thoughts of life, thoughts of reality, 
thoughts of vital love, and attract that understanding whi; 
life everlasting. 



BREATHING 



BREATHING 

ST WANT to take you with me to-day into a beautiful country 
HI where all is harmony and peace, where all the senses are 

blended into one supreme sense; where you see, hear, smell 
and taste the life forces around you in every part of your body, 
and then I want you to listen to me while I tell you of the most 
wonderful thing in the world ; the life that is you, and that you 
attract into your being every time you breathe in the air around 
you. 

Now, isn't this a delightful world? How happy we are 
that we are -privileged to live, move and have our being on such 
a planet ; and not only to have the opportunity of expressing our 
lives here, but the opportunity of inbreathing from the whole 
universe every quality of life within it. 

Ah; yes! It is a great privilege to be created a human 
being ; to be made in the image of the Divine. Just think about 
it once, this perfect thing that you are intended to be, and then 
don't waste any more time about raising your vibrations to 
become one with your Creator, and fulfill the Divine plan. 

That is what we have come into this illumined country 
for to-day, we want to talk about raising our vibrations; and 
you want to be in harmony with yourself and me while I tell 



68 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

you about this breath of life, and while I show you just a little 
wee, wee bit how to accomplish this end, and how to control 
this vital force. 

In the first place, while you are listening to me, do sit erect; 
head, neck and spinal column in a straight line. It really is a 
dreadful thing to sit crooked. You see, the spinal cord is in- 
side the vertebral column and not attached to it. When you sit 
or stand crooked you disturb the spinal cord, and whenever you 
breathe with the spinal cord crooked you inharmonize every 
nerve in you and do yourself an injury. 

Isn't is too bad how we abuse our beautiful bodies? The 
only wonder is that they serve us as well as they do. 

Now, I want you to breathe regularly for two reasons ; first, 
I wish you to be poised and thoroughly harmonious, because 
I have some very interesting things to tell you; and second, 
1 want you to inbreathe what I tell you and absorb it into yourself 
with the inner breath. Don't you know how in our class work 
we usually take a deep breathing exercise at its close, in order 
that we may absorb into every center of the body the vibrations 
of the lesson? And most effectual it is, too. Now, to-day you 
are to breathe consciously all the time, because in this country we 
perceive things and you must be ready. 

What is known as breathing is a mighty poor apology for 
it, I assure you. But before I say another word let's take this 



Breathing. 69 

exercise. Now try with me ; exhale all the air in the lungs, and 
gently inhale a conscious breath. We will count four for the 
inbreath, and four for the outbreath. Breathe in and out in a 
measured, regular way. Now again, rythmically, evenly. Isn't 
that refreshing? Are not your tired nerves calmer and a rest 
coming over your wearied senses ? 

When you think of the nerve center that controls the 
respiratory organs, and its influence over the nerves, you can 
easily perceive the importance of regular breathing, that all the 
atoms of the body will have a tendency to move in the same 
direction ; they will know exactly what is required of them, and 
move rythmically and in harmony. 

And oh, my dear sisters, do cast aside if only for a brief 
exercise, those horrid creations of conventionality — known as the 
corset. Just think how you are interfering with the laws of 
harmony when you suppress one of the most important centers 
of the body, and prevent the life force from permeating it. Don't 
you know that when all the centers of the body act with one 
motive, that the body becomes a tremendous power, a mighty 
magnet, a gigantic battery of life force? and here you suppress 
one of these wonderful centers, the solar plexus. Why do you 
do it? It certainly isn't for beauty, and it certainly isn't for 
comfort — must be because other people do. it. Won't it be nice 
when we do things because we want to, and not because some- 



jo Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

body else does it. When you have a few more ideas about 
breathing maybe you will think as you are inspired to think, and 
become an individual. 

Now, let's breathe, and live, and inspire into every inch 
of our bodies, and every atom of our souls this vital force. 

We don't want to get old, do we? We don't care how 
long we stay here. This is a dear, happy home, we like to stay, 
but we don't want wrinkles and aches, and all sorts of signs of 
dissolution. No, we want to control these muscles and breathe 
the vital life into them, so that they get stronger all the time, and 
when we have been here eighty years we will be more beautiful 
and more buoyantly full of life than when we were eighteen, be- 
cause at eighty we know so much more, and should be just that 
much stronger. 

Do you know millions of people live, no, I mean exist on 
this planet for years, and really believe that they have to be sick, 
and have all kinds of troubles, that it is a kind of a visitation of 
Providence! Now, isn't that odd? I'd rather Providence didn't 
visit me if that was his way. They don't know that everything 
that happens to them belongs to them because they attract it, and 
that just as soon as they learn to control the muscles and by that 
knowledge learn to breathe, to control the body, they will soon 
understand breathing to control the conditions. 



Breathing. Ji 

Oh, dear, dear ! How we do suffer by ignoring the law ; and 
just think how surprised some of us will be when we wake up in 
another sphere of life, and realize the way we didn't improve our 
opportunities. 

Strange, isn't it, that the commonest thing in the world is 
the greatest mystery of life. Really the simplicity of things is 
most wonderful. The Breath is the life. Marvelous thought! 
Every breath you inhale is that vibration of spirit which is life. 
The lungs move involuntarily. You can't help it. If it required 
any effort or any thought, many of you would stop breathing 
at once, and as the lungs move, you unconsciously take in 
enough of the atmosphere to sustain the physical life. The 
breath is not producing the motion; the motion is producing 
the breath. 

Now, supposing you realize that within this breath is an 
inner breath, the spiritual life force of the external breath; I 
rather think you will place your conscious thought upon it, and 
control the muscles of your body so that you can receive the 
greatest benefit from your breathing and inhale the spiritual es- 
sence of life as well as the physical. 

Let me see. Have I commenced in the wrong place, told 
the last thing first ? Xever mind, when you are teaching from 
the plane of love, it doesn't matter very much where you begin, 
because it all works out in harmonv anyway, and we want to 



72 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

know things from the plane of love, don't we ? When you really 
know things you love them and see the beautiful in them. It 
is the man who does not know the Supreme Intelligence, who 
is lacking in love. He who does not know nature, is he who 
cannot perceive her beauties. To know things, then, is to love 
them, and to love them is to know them, for we breathe in and 
absorb that which we love. 

Suppose, now, we go back a little ways. Possibly many of 
you think you can control your body. Please try to move the 
ears. How many of you can write equally well with both hands!* 
No, you cannot control your body very well. You are not even 
conscious of many of the muscles in it. Yet you should be 
able to so manipulate those muscles so that you could draw the 
breath to any part of your body, clear to your toes, and feel the 
breath as it vibrates through the limbs and into every atom of 
your being. 

No, my dear; don't tell me that is impossible. You cer- 
tainly remember a teacher who gave us the Hatha Yoga lessons 
a few years ago, who demonstrated to us perfectly that he could 
breathe when his nostrils and mouth were closed, and that every 
muscle in his body was individually under his control. I re- 
member particularly when he showed us how to breathe through 
the eyes, and told us how dreadful it is for people to lose their 



Breathing. 73 

sight or have defective vision just because they did not know 
how to exercise the muscles of the eye and breathe to them. 

Isn't it queer, when you think of it, how people do object to 
being taught, most people, I mean? They certainly know that 
knowledge is power on all planes, and yet they do not want to 
learn the more real knowledge. When you say to a man, "You 
can live without food and even without water for a time, but 
you can't live without breathing for five minutes," he will admit 
you are right, but when you tell him his spiritual life depends 
upon his breath as well as his physical life, he immediately thinks 
you are deluded. 

The truth is that when your physical body gets through 
breathing the atmosphere, that your spiritual body will keep on 
breathing its life essence just the same. While the spiritual 
body is clothed in the physical envelope, the spiritual breath is 
clothed in its envelope, the physical breath. 

Nothing exists on this planet without a cause in the spiritual 
world. What a beautiful thought it is that we are so permeated 
with the Divine Inspiration. 

Oh, yes, I did promise you some breathing drills. Well, 
wait a minute. I don't want to give them to you until you know 
what you are doing. Incalculable injury has been done by people 
practicing the deep breathing before they really knew what they 
were doing. Don't be in a hurry, you have all the time there is, 



74 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

and after years of ignoring the law, you can't jump into the 
middle of things in a moment. Be serene. The calm, quiet 
work is the most effectual. All growth is in the silence. 

I intend to give you several exercises, because of course you 
must practice. You have to learn for yourself. How many times 
have I told you that I cannot teach you anything. Maybe I can 
inspire you a little bit, although in reality the inspiration you re- 
ceive is what you inbreathe from the universal spirit, it is the in- 
spiring of the spirit breath. 

Every thought that comes to you is an inspiration, although 
not necessarily a good one. You have perceived that everything 
in the universe is spirit in different rates of vibration, so you see 
your inspiration need not necessarily be of a high vibration. A 
man might be inspired to commit a murder as well as to endow 
a hospital. One is the inbreathing of a low vibration of spirit, 
and the other a high one; both, however, are inspirations. Un- 
less you are expressing the high vibration you will scarcely in- 
breathe it. 

We only inspire and inbreathe that which corresponds to 
our thought. We attract what we are within, and the thought, 
which is the result of the mind's action, determines the quality 
of the life force which we attract with the breath. 

Now I want to give you a breathing exercise. I could go 
on talking all this beautiful day about the whys of things, when 



Breathing. 75 

I really wish to demonstrate a little. Of course it will not be 
very much, but it may give you a passing glimpse of the possi- 
bilities of what you may do with some understanding of these 
higher forces. 

The drill which il am now going to give you will assist you 
in concentrating the thought upon the inner spiritual breath. It 
is a concentration breath exercise. 

Maybe you think because the machinery of the body moves, 
and unconsciously you inhale enough of the atmosphere to sustain 
the physical body, and exhale enough of the poison to protect 
you, that you are breathing. Believe me, it is only an imitation 
of breathing unless you inhale enough of the vital life force to 
sustain your soul life also. 

This breath means life on all planes, and it always seemed 
so interesting to me in the Bible where Jehovah breathed into the 
man the breath of life. The thought seems dominant that the 
man existed before that, but his soul life commenced with that 
great breath of Spiritual life. 

Whenever you take any breathing drill, be sure that the air 
surrounding you is pure and fresh, and also that the thought 
vibrations near you are of the kind you are willing to absorb, be- 
cause unless you thoroughly understand protecting yourself, you 
are liable to breathe in the thought which surrounds you. 



j6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Remember that you are master of your own being. It is 
well to say the words "I am master of myself, and will be su- 
preme in my own domain." Now take your seat in a straight 
back chair facing the east. Take the positive position, with the 
hands on the knees, the feet on the floor, head and back erect. In- 
hale and exhale deeply and regularly from seven to ten minutes, 
and always breathe through the nostrils, keeping the mouth 
closed. Cross the right foot over the left, and the right hand over 
the left on the abdomen. Close the eyes and do not move. Ban- 
ish every thought from the mind and sit in this way as long as 
you can, twenty minutes or even half an hour if possible, unless 
you get sleepy, then stop at once. 

You always want to have your surplus stock of common 
sense conveniently near when you are taking breathing exer- 
cises. Some people come into this training with such enthusiasm 
that they constantly overdo, and have to be as constantly held 
back. Others must be inspired to go on — as dear old mammy 
used to say, "There's a heap o' diffunce in folks." 

Isn't it nice to think, aye, to know, that you can breathe 
into your being from out the universe any force you may wish 
to attract? And it is also such a comfort to know that you can 
radiate the force which you attract. Health and happiness are 
quite as contagious as sickness and misery, and I assure you 



Breathing. JJ 

that if you properly use your breath, sickness is impossible, not 
only to yourself but to people around you. 

Of course there is one of the mightiest words in the world 
right in the way. Wouldn't it be lovely if there were no ifs? 
No j I don't believe it would. How do you expect to climb if 
there are no rocks to climb on? If there is nothing to over- 
come you can't develop your strength; and after all, when we 
have conquered the world, there is nothing to remain here for. 
That is what these ifs are for. You are going to overcome and 
develop the soul strength by overcoming every obstacle in your 
path. 

The quality you need for overcoming is strength. Now let's 
see how you are going to cultivate this force ; we will try breath- 
ing for it, and I will tell you how. Every morning as soon as 
possible you should go out into the open air and take a breathing 
exercise, if it is only to exhale all the air in your body, and 
breathe in the glorious freshness of the morning sun. You have 
never thoroughly appreciated the sun unless you have inbreathed 
its life essences in the early morning. Don't be afraid of taking 
cold. It is an old and exploded idea that people take colds, and 
you can absorb nothing but forces of life, when you are taking 
any kind of a breathing exercise in the open air. 

Xow the force you desire is strength ; place your mind upon 
the word strength with all its grand depths of meaning, and take 



78 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

a deep breath. Don't be too intense about it; did I not tell you 
that your greatest strength is in the stillness? Breathe deeply 
and regularly with the thought of strength, and absorb its vibra- 
tions into the depth of your being. 

Strength is such a big, glorious word,, it means so much 
that some day I want to give you a whole lesson on that word 
alone. We will come here into this beautiful country where we 
perceive things, and I will tell you how you need strength, and 
how you can attain it. 

You must be strong financially before you can be generous. 
You must be strong physically before you can be virtuous. You 
must be strong mentally before you can acquire knowledge. In 
fact you must have it, and the surest way to get it is to breathe it 
out of this mighty universe. 

There is one exercise I should like to give you to-day that 
always especially appeals to me. It has such a grand symbolism 
and such a comprehensive correspondence. In order to use this 
exercise, however, you must be familiar with the zodiac, which 
is the symbol of the universe. Those of you who have been stu- 
dents of the esoteric law for any length of time are all familiar 
with the signs of the Zodiac, and realize something of their deep 
meaning; and those of you who are just entering these portals 
must study these symbols which encompass in their mystic circle 
untold treasures of knowledge and understanding. 



Breathing. 79 

Place in your mind the symbol of the Zodiac. Hold it there 
till it seems to you a living thing. If you cannot concentrate upon 
ii with sufficient strength to retain it, practice until you can. 
You surely know that truth students object to the words can not, 
because they know a human being can do anything he wants to. 
There is always a way when you really desire to do anything. 
It always seems to me rather a waste of force to make a lot of 
excuses for some remiss action, when the only excuse is, "I want 
to" or'T don't want to." 

Realize that this symbol corresponds to the Macrocosm, 
the universe. Also that it corresponds to the Microcosm, the 
human being. Now with the circle in your mind place the 
mental vision upon Pisces, which corresponds to the feet; con- 
centrate upon the feet of the Universal Grand Man, and then 
breathe clear to your own feet. You can feel the course of the 
vibrating breath as it permeates and vitalizes the atoms of your 
being. 

Xow take the next sign, Aquarius, and in the same way 
draw in the breath to the part of your body which corresponds 
to Aquarius. Then take Capricorn, which represents the knees, 
and concentrate upon that part of the Macrocosm, breathing 
at the same time to your knees. Keep on in that way until you 
have completed the circle and thoroughly vitalized every part 
of your body and harmonized your entire being. 



8o Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

It is well to take about two minutes to each sign of the 
Zodiac; however, it always depends upon conditions and cir- 
cumstances. One minute to each sign is effectual, thus taking 
twelve minutes for the exercise, and I have known students who 
take five minutes for each sign. I always let my inspiration 
guide me. If I want to concentrate longer on Leo than on Virgo 
I do so, or any other sign. It is more according to my taste to do 
as I please and forget about the watch. 

This is really a most useful drill for producing harmony 
and polarizing the spiritual strength, and even for physical ills 
ii is excellent. In cases of insomnia I have never known it to 
fail; many times when it is practiced for insomnia the person 
is asleep long before the circle is completed. 

However, you are not working to cure physical inharmony, 
but for knowledge, and you are not supposed to go to sleep 
while practicing that drill or any other. 

While the chief object in our work is the acquiring of 
knowledge so that we can overcome on all planes, we realize that 
the physical overcoming is of the utmost importance, and that 
it always follows the spiritual advancement. On no plane are 
the results of the breathing study shown more than on the physi- 
cal. It is really wonderful what you can do with even a little 
understanding of the control of the breath. 



Breathing. 81 

Most assuredly, my dear, the knowledge of the breath which 
gives such power is a most dangerous thing if it happens to fall 
in the wrong hands. But don't you know that accidents don't 
happen in such matters, and such power would not remain in 
the possession of a man who is capable of desecrating it very 
long? 

The Divine Intelligence is never manifested with greater 
strength than in this truth, that great truths are only given to 
those who are worthy. The instant the desire comes to a man 
to know truth for truth's sake, the way is open. When he needs 
a teacher, that need will be filled; and when he has exhausted 
the earth's teachers, he will find those from higher spheres. You 
can rest assured that those who are ready and worthy will find 
the truth no matter if their abiding place be in the wilds of a 
trackless desert. 

There never was a miracle in this world or any other. As 
people commonly understand miracles they are a violation of the 
law. Do you imagine the law can be broken? Oh, no; when 
you make an attempt at breaking it, it is you who get broken, 
not the law. A miracle is simply the fulfillment of the law by 
the action of a higher vibration, producing harmony in a short 
time, that would take longer with the action of the lower vibra- 
tion, which takes longer time. 



82 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

If you are ill and my coming- into your presence, or sending 
you a vibration, cures you, I have simply raised your vibration 
by the contact of my vital life force, which is stronger than yours. 
You would probably get well anyway, only you haven't suf- 
ficient strength to attract the energy that radiates from me, and 
you inbreathe it as I send it to you. Isn't it wonderful, this study 
of the action of Nature's forces? The very soul essence of the 
Universe becoming manifest to us through the mighty power of 
the law. Truly "the law of the Lord is perfect." 

Sometimes I am asked : "What proof have you of these 
things, vast theories of Mind, Spirit, Vibration, etc? How do 
you know it?" Ah, my friends, in this country where we per- 
ceive truth, we don't need proof. It would be farcical to even 
attempt to give it. If you had to have external proof for what 
you know, you wouldn't know very much. 

I would not even know there is a country called China, be- 
cause I've never been there to my conscious recollection. I may 
have been there many times, for I've had some strange and won- 
derful journeys; but I can't prove China's existence even to 
myself, and yet I firmly believe there is such a place. 

I don't need to dissect a rat to believe that he has a won- 
derful internal structure inside his pretty gray fur coat, but I 
certainly believe it. This talk of proving things by the physi- 
cal senses is all nonsense. You can't do it. The higher vibration 



Breathing. 83 

of the senses, and the combination of them all, perception, is the 
only proof of anything. 

That is why I love this country of reality, where we have 
come to-day ; I love to bring you here, leaving the world of delu- 
sion behind us, when I have a great and beautiful truth to tell 
you, and want you to perceive its beauties from the standpoint of 
reality. I want you to look within and only believe those things 
that your inner sense tells you are true. 

So come with us ; be one with us, and we will all come into 
this pure sweet country of reality, where the light of truth per- 
meates and radiates, and where we know things, and knowing 
love them. 



MIND 



M 



MIND 

ADE IN HIS IMAGE, molded in the form of the In- 
finite perfection, the microcosm of this glorious macro- 
cosm, a human being with the potentialities of the Di- 
vine Being — that is man. 

Just think of it, and marvel at your greatness. Contemplate 
your responsibility, for you are this wonderful creature, this em- 
bodiment of every law in the universe which you represent. 

The fundamental principle of all spiritual philosophy is 
that the human being is the microcosm of the universe and from 
that standpoint must we study the mind as well as the soul and 
body, not only of the man but of the universe. 

Now, let us reason together and see what part of our struc- 
ture the mind is, and what is the relation of the Universal Mind 
to the human mind. Yes, indeed, there are many points to con- 
sider, many sides to view, for the mind has unlimited capacity, 
and when turned within upon itself sees marvelous things. 

Oh, the weakness of language when one attempts to con- 
vey the ideas of reality! Oh, for words with which to clothe 
the immortal truth, and present it to humanity in such form that 
it will help us all to raise the thought of the mind into the con- 
sciousness of the soul. 



86 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

One beautiful Truth student said to me, "I do not recognize 
anything but mind; to me it is all in all and there is nothing 
else." Then, dear, you do not recognize the mind, for it is but 
the manifestation of the soul, the instrument of the soul, as it 
were. And as the mind of man is the instrument of the individual 
divine soul of man, so is the mind of the universe the instrument 
of the great soul of the universe, for therein is the law, "As it is 
above, so it is below." 

It, therefore, follows that to recognize ourselves as one with 
the Universal Intelligence and in harmony with the forces of 
the Universe, we must attune the Objective Mind to the Sub- 
jective Mind and realize that in the great Universal Mind is all 
Knowledge and all power, and that by becoming one with it we 
become or, rather, we are, all power and all knowledge. 

The physical body is the instrument of the human mind, as 
the physical earth is the instrument and projected manifestation 
of the universal mind. In the work of life the mind and the body 
perpetually respond to each other, and it is useful to understand 
the mechanism of the body to comprehend the structure of the 
mind, for Mother Nature is most harmonious when we allow 
her to so manifest herself, and the body, the mind and the soul 
are mutually dependent upon each other. All contain the same 
eternal principles, all working together with the same grand 
purpose of impressing the soul with everlasting knowledge, 



Mind. 87 

which is Eternal life, thereby individualizing the Universal 
spirit. 

Now, throw aside the idea of growth, the mind does not 
grow, it manifests itself, develops its own strength as it goes out 
into infinite space and gathers facts. These facts are impressed 
upon the soul, and remember this, only Truth is everlasting. 
Thoughts which are delusive, fade away as a vanishing mist that 
cannot endure the light of the sun ; for instance, pain is delusion 
no matter how apparent to the physical man — in the light of 
Truth all inharmony must disappear. Now, please do not mis- 
understand me. The effect of pain is eternal in whatever way 
we allow it to affect the soul senses — if the pain were not delusion 
it would be with us always — but it is only an experience — one of 
the many lessons which the mind encounters in its work of man- 
ifestation — while the effect of all these experiences is according 
to our realization and consequent soul impression. 

How beautifully in the light of Truth does everything con- 
form! When you become conscious of yourself, how real it all 
is — and when you are conscious of yourself, really recognize 
yourself, you have access to the Universal Mind, thus coming in 
touch with the fullness of all life. Recognition and Realization 
are necessary to the higher unfoldment. When you know your- 
self you are on intimate terms with all humanity on all planes of 



88 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

life. You know without objective study more than you could 
absorb in a lifetime of intellectual development alone. 

Throw aside these delusions of inharmony and selfishness. 
Recognize the unlimited power within. Let the light of Truth 
shine into your mind and realize your greatness. As Emerson 
expresses it, "The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn/' 
The upliftment of a thousand worlds may be in one mind. 

Let no man feel proud of his mental power. It belongs to all 
men for he is nothing but what he draws from the Universal 
Source, and yet he is all because of his capacity of drawing all. 
It is when you realize this oneness of all things, that the thought 
of the mind becomes the consciousness of the soul. 

Now. the question is. what are you to do in order to become 
conscious, to awaken your mind to its true relation with and to 
the Universal subjective mind? Indeed, it is a question because 
the power of the mind is so great that under proper training it 
becomes fairly illuminous, no subject but what comes under its 
comprehension, and then I hear you say, What do you mean by 
training ; what kind of training are you speaking of ; are we not 
always under training? Yes, there are many kinds of training, 
many methods of development, but there is only one way of un- 
folding the Spiritual nature and really illumining the mind, and 
that is by concentration united with consecration. 



Mind. 89 

Concentration alone is not sufficient. There are many in- 
tellectual geniuses who are spiritual idiots, who have gained much 
objective information by concentration of the mind, but the 
truth that I wish to impress in this very brief glimpse of the mind 
is, that in order to become the open sesame to the real and Eternal 
Knowledge, concentration must be united to its higher self-con- 
secration. 

Do you realize in this training of the mind what a valuable 
quality the Imagination is? and notice how it is suppressed. A 
child comes to its mother with a startling tale of something he 
has just seen or done, and she is horrified ; scolds him for imagin- 
ing something, worries because he prevaricates. The next time 
his beautiful vision comes he refuses to see; Mama says he 
mustn't. Dear, sweet Mama, do let your baby imagine all he 
wants to; go into his world with him and help him idealize all 
his fancies and then try for yourself. Concentrate upon your 
highest ideal — if it be a personality, draw his image before you ; 
if it is the ideal of Truth, so much the better. Concentrate upon 
it. Hold the image in your mind and breathe deeply the inspira- 
tion of life you desire to attract; see what beautiful light will 
come to you. As the mind unfolds in this way the image making 
faculty constantly increases, grows so strong that sometimes the 
images take material or, shall we say, ethereal form, and who that 
has had this experience will say, these images of the concentrated 



90 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

thought are not real ! Believe me. in the culture of the soul, as 
well as of the mind, the imagination plays a most important part, 
and the gift of imagination is one to be desired and appreciated. 

Just contemplate the wonderful power and scope of the hu- 
man mind when it comes in touch with the Universal Mind; it 
knows not the limitations of time and space. Into the depths 
of the earth and into the immensity of the Heavens it can go in 
an instant of time. Back, mingling with past ages — onward, 
penetrating future mysteries, can it go, with marvelous rapidity. 
Is it surprising that we find it difficult to control this wonderful 
thing or even to comprehend it? 

There are people who ask — What is the use of all this an- 
alyzing the man? Does this have anything to do with our 
soul culture ? YVe will see : Is not knowledge on all planes of 
great use ? Certainly, to know the physical body is most import- 
ant in its care and in its training ; why not even more so, to under- 
stand the mind and its relation to the body and to the soul ? To 
be sure you may say. no one understands these things. You 
cannot see them. Oh, my friends ; it is in the consciousness of 
the soul that one really knows himself. The thought of the mind 
alone will never give you eternal knowledge ; it must be raised 
into the higher recognition of itself until with the soul senses 
you perceive these things not with the mental or physical senses. 

And how this question of terms does intrude itself when 



Mind. 91 

we want to convey an idea, doesn't it ? Somebody says, "Noth- 
ing is created, all is manifested." Then, when we come to reason 
together we find this thought of manifestation and another of 
creation are one and the same. Again, we have this thought of 
growth — we realize there is no growth — it is all manifestation, 
evolution, we say, for convenience ; the tree grows when it is only 
bringing forth the life within, but we constantly use the word 
to express the idea of manifestation. The tree can only bring 
forth and attract from the soul of the universe what is within 
itself; it must manifest from within out — as is the case with all 
life. 

For convenience, again we will use the word creation. Man 
creates himself, or call it evolution, if you like — the word is noth- 
ing, and the instrument he uses in creating himself is the mind, 
for the mind's action, which is thought, is the dominant force of 
his life — and he creates himself and his conditions by the quality 
of his thought. 

Seemingly, in a degree, we are creatures of circumstances, 
but in reality we create our own lives, for there are no circum- 
stances that cannot be overcome by conforming to the law in 
thought, word and deed, and using common sense and reason in 
so doing. When I speak of the law, I always mean the law of 
harmony and love — the law that expresses the Christ principle 
and is nature's law. The word is greater than the deed, and the 



92 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

thought is greater than the word, because the thought must come 
before, and must control the word and the deed. There is no 
phase of charity so great as thinking charity, because, if you think 
kindly and lovingly of every one the word and the deed must 
follow. 

What a wonderful realization it is and what a consciousness 
of the oneness of all humanity it gives us, to know that the mind 
of each human being has an influence upon every other human 
being, and what a responsibility it is when we see that the influence 
is in proportion to the connection one has with the Universal 
Mind. When the objective Mind has no connection with the 
Subjective mind, as in the case of an idiot ; or very slightly con- 
nected, as in the case of an insane person, that mind makes no 
impression on the surrounding minds. But look at the man whose 
life has been one of conscious concentration, and who has conse- 
quently strengthened not only his magnetic force, but his con- 
nection with the Universal Mind; that man's mind will sway 
audiences as his spoken words never could. If he is a writer, 
his readers will feel the vibrations of his thought force as he im- 
presses through his pen his great power upon their minds. 

It is through the subjective mind that we really meet each 
other, not only our friends on this planet, but those in other 



Mind. 93 

realms and spheres. Every normal human being is connected 
with the subjective mind in a degree or his objective mind would 
be unable to comprehend the meaning of anything the physical 
senses report to it, and it is to unite still more closely with the 
subjective mind that all this mental training is necessary. There- 
fore teach your truth-student to concentrate and you will do 
more for him than anything else you can do. One person is not 
any brighter than another; it is only that one has greater con- 
centration developed than another. 

Have you not seen people who were seemingly what the 
world calls stupid, and who suddenly developed a certain genius 
and brilliancy that was remarkable ? Those people simply became 
conscious of themselves. The key-note of their being is touched 
and they recognize themselves. Again, you see people who as 
children give promise of such wonderful things and who are quite 
commonplace as they grow older. They have raised a barrier be- 
tween themselves and the universal source of all knowledge, it 
may be by selfishness, or it may be by intellectual pride, or pride 
of wealth, but the light of true understanding has been obscured 
for a time. 

Thus we see that all men are equal, and each one has just 
the opportunity he needs for his unfoldment if he will only make 
use of it. Some people, however, consider their stepping stones 
as very great misfortunes. They resist instead of overcoming 



94 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

and mastering conditions, and after a lifetime of resistance and 
misunderstanding wonder why "life is a failure." 

A mind that is free from fear soon becomes one with the 
Universal and manifests its all powerful qualities. Fear is the 
embodiment of every other evil, or so-called evil, under the sun. 
Fear is the greatest hindrance to spiritual unfoldment that there 
is ; not only that, but it is the barrier between ourselves and suc- 
cess on all planes. 

In fact, fear is the one and only evil, the cause of all sick- 
ness and all sorrow. Free the mind from fear and the gates of 
Heaven will open to you. Sum it all up in these words : Fear is 
the one thing to be afraid of and must be cast out of the mind. 

Countless Universes exist, and these are arranged mechani- 
cally like the human body, the mind of all minds being the con- 
trolling power as the mind of man is the controlling power in 
his body. Each atom of the Universe is dependent on every 
other atom, being at the same time an individual atom; and so 
with man, each individual must, while seeking his own good at 
all times, in all places, in all situations, seek the good of the as- 
sociated whole. That is your responsibility, and there is where 
you gain your life, by merging yourself into the whole, thus 



Mind. 95 

strengthening your own individuality while helping all the world 
— nay. all the Universe. 

Behold, how clearly is revealed the meaning of the words, 
"Man, know thyself/' in this study of the mind! The study of 
the subjective mind is an introspective study of self, unveiling 
the higher self, for in the subjective world everything is con- 
tained ; and in degree that we allow the higher self to manifest 
is every power in the being manifested. So that in reality only by 
recognizing and thus comprehending and manifesting his per- 
fection, his oneness with the Universal Harmony, can the man 
become master. 

Mind, as commonly understood, applies to the activities of 
the brain ; in Sanscrit it is called Manas, the thinking principle 
of man. In the occult conception it is a vibration of spirit which 
manifests itself on the different planes of being by virtue of the 
unseen stratum of the Universe. It is one and a part of all, and 
we get as much and no more of this force as we are capable of 
using, consequently the more we cultivate the powers within and 
develop the individuality the more of this force becomes ours. 

The Universal Intelligence traveling along the Universal 
thought currents is the one Universal law, and "The law of the 
Lord is perfect." With that thought in the consciousness there 
will be no question of "breaking the law." You will realize that 



g6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

such a thing is impossible, and that any attempt at it breaks the 
man and not the law. 

How many times do we say Knowledge is power — Knowl- 
edge is strength — aye, Knowledge is eternal life, not intellectual 
information, but that Knowledge which is understanding that is 
Eternal life, and how beautiful it is to feel the pulsations of this 
life as the awakening is coming to humanity, and all men are 
seeing this light of truth. Even the daily papers and maga- 
zines are permeated by what is called the "new thought." Of 
course it is not the new thought, because Truth always has been, 
is, and ever shall be, but the old barriers are being destroyed, 
and men are recognizing themselves as never before. 

A human being is the greatest magnet in the Universe, and 
from the brain radiates a force which you can send where you 
please, as soon as you really understand you have such a force 
at your command. By generating this thought force in love, 
and realizing that in every other man is this same power, this 
same love principle, you establish a magnetic chain between you, 
thus giving him what you have for him and receiving in like 
manner. You have within yourself, then, magnetism sufficient 
to draw to yourself all that you need from out the Universe — all 
that you desire, and all that you demand, but there must be no 
unbelief; simply have perfect faith that your requirements will 
be fulfilled. 



Mind. 



97 



What a glori- 



Truth is infinite and can never be exhausted 
ous realization it is that we are coming into the Consciousness 
of our oneness not only with each other but with Universal 
Truth. 



SELF RELIANCE 



SELF RELIANCE 

XCE THERE WAS a dear baby girl; you would say pos- 
sibly that she was spoiled, but I doubt if you can spoil a 
child unless you suppress it or abuse it, and this child was 
certainly neither suppressed nor abused. One day her clear-eyed 
mother perceived that the I of the child was becoming too pro- 
nounced, so she said to the important tot : "Dear Heart ! does 
it ever occur to you that every other child in the world is of just 
as great importance as you are ; that in her world your little play- 
mate is the center just as you are the center in yours? Every 
soul is the center of its Universe, and from that center must its 
life proceed." Sweet, astonished blue eyes ! How wide they 
opened, and how the dimpled chin trembled as the child heart 
responded to the great truth, and slowly and surely did the mind 
comprehend what the soul perceived, and the self became polar- 
ized in that new light. 

Blessed was that child who learned her lesson then, and 
blessed indeed is the human being who recognizes his position 
in the Universe and poralizes himself accordingly, for in polar- 
ization is the only strength. 

Oh, Man ! what is the self, this mighty power within which 
is so little understood and yet which must become the Divine 

LofC, 



ico Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

individual ? We are taught by the Masters "Thou shouldst strive 
to raise the self by the self; self is the friend of self, and self in 
like manner is the enemy of self." Such a world of inspiration 
in those few words ! Think deeply. Concentrate upon them and 
see what light will come to you in understanding this mighty 
self and in realizing the sense of being — of being one with 
all life. 

Oh, my friends, the true growth is from within outward. 
The inner man is the self, and to the inner man we look for this 
expression of life which raises the vibration of selfishness to the 
higher vibration of selflessness. So much has been written in 
the so-called "new thought" journals on the subject of Being and 
affirming, etc., seemingly such a useless jargon of words that 
one wants to dip his pen in fire and impress in words of flame this 
Knowledge which is in very truth Everlasting life. 

The real life principle within is the true Ego, and the differ- 
ence in its vibration makes the difference between the i" and the 
you. You must manifest this life principle; you must understand 
it because you create yourself by its action. On you and you 
alone rests the responsibility of your evolution. Xo background 
or prop of organization will help you. Alone you must under- 
stand — one with all men, and yet alone. 

You think it is hard? No, it is glorious. Cast off the scales 
from the eyes., throw out the delusions of personality. You never 



Self Reliance. 101 

will know the ecstacy of love until you recognize that one human 
soul is no more to you than another, until you perceive the Di- 
vine Individual in all men; feeling the strength of the "I am" 
within — knowing that "I am the way the truth and the life." 
Glorious truth! Radiant revelation to the soul! 

What are we on this planet for, anyway, but to realize the 
self, to obtain a conscious knowledge of the self and to make 
subjective thought objective deed ? What is the use of knowledge 
or of anything else if you cannot make it practical? It is all 
very well to tell people about these realities of life, but unless 
you can make them plain and prove the truth of them you might 
just as well stop talking about it. 

Xow, right here let me tell you something. Never accept 
anything because somebody says so, or because it is in some book. 
If you find a statement in the Bible itself that is not reasonable 
to you, do not accept it until it proves itself to be true. Depend 
on your own consciousness to guide you, not somebody's else 
understanding. There are the two ends of the pole, repulsion 
and attraction, and you and you alone can find the right polari- 
zation. 

As for the Bible, it is such a wonderful, such a magic book 
that only the man shorn of his delusions can comprehend it. It 
is not written for the man who thinks he knows, but for the man 
who knows or who desires to know. 



102 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Remember this : Xature always works intelligently, and 
there is an interior life element in all men and in all systems. The 
Subjective mind never makes mistakes and never fails. It is all 
there. The universal life principle is in all things ; all strength is 
ours if we will only recognize our own. 

Strength — what a grand word it is ! "What a vibration of 
power it embodies. I love to say it aloud, to draw it into the 
innermost depths of my being and say "I am strength." It helps 
me to become this strength that I love. Weakness is the cause 
of all inharmony; strength is harmony itself. 

All virtue has strength for its foundation. Did you ever 
see a generous man who had not strength of pocket-book to be 
generous with? Of course all financially strong men are not 
generous. All strong people do not recognize their responsibility, 
but the greatest force to be desired in the world is strength — 
physical, financial, mental and spiritual strength. 

Instead of anxiously desiring wealth, success, fame, etc.. 
wouldn't it be a good idea to go to work to cultivate the strength 
that will enable you to have anything, and everything you re- 
quire? Anxiety is never strong; emotion is always weak. The 
silent power is the great power. 

When you realize what the self is, its power and its possi- 
bilities, you see that by cultivating the strength of the self, that 
quality which we know as self reliance, we do more for our- 



Self Reliance. 103 

selves than in any other way. Just think how some teachers tell 
us we must kill out the self ! What for, I'd like to know ? Are we 
not distinctly taught in the commandment of the Most High, 
"Thou shalt not kill"? and even if we had no higher teaching 
on that subject, does not our common sense and reason teach us 
that the self is to be cultivated and strengthened, and above all 
comprehended? Ah! there is the key-note, Understanding. 
Surely we do not destroy what we know, for what we truly know 
we love, do we not ? We see beyond the crusts of the outer self 
into the depths of the inner self, and then we love the beautiful 
soul we perceive within. 

No, we must not destroy anything. Overcome ? Yes. Raise 
the -vibrations? Certainly, but destroy, never. You will destroy 
the body as well as the self if you attempt to kill out that which 
is within. Suppose you have a violent temper. Don't imagine 
for one minute that it should be killed or destroyed. Dear me, 
a temper is one of the most valuable forces in the world if rightly 
directed. Raise the vibrations of that temper until it becomes 
the power behind the throne — a strong, sure life force within. 
What would your engine be without the steam in its body? But 
if the steam is misdirected, not controlled, the engine is apt to be 
disintegrated and the steam to become a wasted force. It is so 
with any quality. It is yours to make the highest use of and not 
to scatter and waste. 



104 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Some one of the modern writers has said that it is a good 
thing to take a day off and get acquainted with yourself, and it 
is excellent advice. Look within, and what do you see ? Do you 
find a loving soul that knows its own strength and realizes its 
possibilities, or do you find something that fears, thus attracting 
weakness on all planes? Are you living so that you cultivate 
this fear, thereby disintegrating your body and enervating your 
condition of life, or are you cultivating self reliance, courage 
and strength ? Beloved Sisters ! who is master, you or Fashion ? 
Are you free to wear what is harmonious to you, to live your 
own life according to the requirements of your experience, or 
must you pause for fear — they might say something. A sweet 
woman said to me not long ago that she couldn't live in a certain 
neighborhood because she had to do her own housework, and 
the people in that neighborhood would look down on her. Dear, 
dear Sister, your home is your glory. Blessed is that woman 
who is privileged to do her own housework and keep her home 
sacred. Oh, the pity of it ! that such conditions can be wherein 
we cannot live our own lives for the fear of what some one 
might say. 

To be sure it requires strength in a degree to overlook the 
opinion of the world, but that is what we are talking about — 
self-reliance. As soon as you commence to live your own life, 
and to depend upon yourself instead of what the world says, you 



Self Reliance. 105 

will have many occasions to forgive and overlook the apparent 
cruelty of the world. Be true to yourself and the highest ideals 
of your soul, and when your strength is proved, and you go on 
in self-reliance and perfect poise, the first thing you know this 
blundering old world will change its attitude and follow you. 
It took the world several years to appreciate Columbus, but he 
knew, and the opinion of the world was nothing to him. 

Strength will accomplish anything. The survival of the 
fittest is and ever has been the law ; all nature and all life prove it. 
It rests with us to see that the fittest is the Spiritual part of 
ourselves and that we attract strength to the higher self, thus 
overcoming and raising the self to the high vibration of self- 
lessness. 

Let us train this self to be the thing we desire, and then we 
shall have no difficulty in attracting our own. Students have said 
to me, "My own shall come to me," as though it were a future 
reward that would swoop like some great bird down on their 
heads. Bless you, dear heart, "your own" is here right now, and 
if you don't like it, change it. It all rests with you. Let me tell 
you something. You've got to become a thing before you can 
have it. You will attract to yourself what you really are, and 
if you are cultivating the lower vibrations of your being, becom- 
ing selfish, cruel, stingy, what do you expect? No matter what 



106 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

you expect you will get just what you are, and the destructive 
and disintegrating forces will be yours. 

On the other hand, if you vibrate in the law of love and 
become life, you will attract and radiate that which you are. Can 
you imagine a disintegrating force entering into that being which 
is life itself ? Can you conceive of harm coming to a man who is 
love ? Suppose the world does turn and rend him. Is he not 
deathless from the strength of his love? 

Do you know we lose half the delights of our sojourn here 
by always depending on something or somebody? How many 
of us, in these days of automatic conveyances, street cars and 
carriages, enjoy the good long walk? It is so easy to jump on 
a car — saves time, too ; queer, isn't it, how we have to save time 
when there is no end or beginning to time? We have to be 
hurried off this planet after a sojourn of fifty or sixty years upon 
it just because other people have done so, when we can stay as 
long as we please if we only think so. 

How much closer one comes to nature if he lays aside his 
watch and all the contrivances for making his life artificial and 
lives close to Mother Earth for a time. Depend upon yourself; 
surprise your limbs by giving them a little exercise for a change. 
Surprise your memory by depending on it instead of carrying a 
pencil and tablet in your pocket to remind you when it is time 
to keep your engagements. Wouldn't it be rather nice not to 



Self Reliance. 107 

have any engagements and be free for a time? But dear me! 
such ignoring of modern conventionality is hardly to be contem- 
plated. We rise by the clock, we eat by the clock, we live, move 
and have our being by the clock ; we even take our drugs by the 
clock. No wonder the self loses its strength and becomes weak 
and afraid. 

Show me the man who depends on himself, who knows 
himself truly and relies on that knowledge, and I will show you 
the master mind. For in knowledge of self is life eternal. 

In the higher life there is no such thing as ambition for 
self. The object of every student of truth is to obtain knowledge 
in order to be of greater use to his fellow man. No matter what 
ambition he may have had to start with, when the student recog- 
nizes himself he polarizes himself on the plane of common sense 
and goes to work. That is the way. Do something for some- 
body else, and forget the personal / for a time. In becoming 
self reliant you don't want to depend on the false self — that 
means, what you call conceit. You must depend on the real self ; 
then you make no mistakes. 

It is unnecessary for a man to go off into the wilderness to 
find his work on Spiritual lines. Just as fast as you are ready 
your work will appear. Neither is it necessary to go one step 
out of the way to find it. If your work happens to be washing 



108 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

dishes, do it the very best you know how; make it a beautiful 
thing, and something more congenial may soon be brought to 
you. 

I know a woman who left her home and baby, in order to 
fill an "equal sphere with her husband." I never yet saw a man 
who was equal to harmonizing a baby and a home. Realize the 
importance of your work, and don't imagine it is commonplace 
just because that is the world's present opinion. 

Work is the most beautiful thing in the world. We are all 
servants, or ought to be, for there is nothing so deplorable in 
the world as having nothing definite to do. The greatest glory 
in the world is to be privileged to serve others. Pity that poor, 
ignorant soul who regards her "servants" as different flesh from 
her own, and who feels that work is beneath her. Her chief 
work in life is to delude herself, and she misses the cream of life 
itself in her struggle for delusions. 

The greatest joy of life is serving. Give of your love ; give 
of your strength. No man is poor while he has the power within 
himself to be anything he desires. Rely upon yourself and the 
inner voice, and you will soon know the way. 

Isn't it beautiful to know that every step we take onward 
helps everybody else — to know that every time you help yourself 
you are helping all the world, and embodying the grand teaching 
of Jesus, "If I be lifted up, I lift all men with me" ? 



Self Reliance. 109 

Remember that affirmations amount to nothing unless you, 
in truth, embody the affirmation. Imagine a man claiming "I 
am God" when he is living in the thought of how he can accumu- 
late more money than he has any use for. It is noticeable that 
most of such people seem to have a fear that the Lord's store- 
house will give out, and they feather their nests most luxuriously, 
and demand millions at a time. Seems to me if I had faith that 
the supply was equal to the demand and that all was mine for 
the asking I wouldn't want such a lot all at once, nor make people 
pay such enormous and rigid prices for a Truth which is free. 
I would rather trust in the truth of my teachings, knowing that 
when I need it the money or the supply must come. 

Imagine a man insisting "I am life" when he ate for his 
dinner the body of a creature that was filled with conscious pul- 
sations of a life that is one with his own. Was not that creature 
permeated with fear when the life was rudely torn from it, and 
is not the man absorbing those vibrations of fear by taking them 
into his organism? 

I know it doesn't sound pretty. Truth frequently is not 
pleasant ; in fact, it never is unless you are one with it ; but even 
if you don't like it, be strong and self reliant enough to think 
about it and know for yourself whether it is truth or not. The 
truth is that the only thing you can claim as your own is what 



no Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

you become, not what you delude yourself into thinking is your 
own, but you yourself. 

I do not mean to ignore the use of affirmations. In a degree 
they assist in the cultivation of self, in the strengthening process. 
We all know how we can polarize the mind when we are dis- 
turbed by the spoken affirmation, but again we can most woefully 
delude ourselves by affirmations which are not true. I can deny 
a physical inharmony by declaring "I am perfect health" until it 
separates the body from me and I die, as they say. I can also de- 
clare I am ill until I am completely inharmonized whether there 
was any foundation for it or not. 

There is a great deal more to the science of healing than 
declaring, or denying or affirming. They certainly help to 
strengthen, that is all. The greater the strength, the greater the 
power of the self, the more you can overcome. You can over- 
come yourself in regard to the heat, for instance. It requires but 
little strength to place yourself in the attitude where you do not 
suffer from the ordinary heat of summer; but it requires great 
strength to overcome yourself so that you do not suffer if you 
place your hand on a red hot iron. 

The great Truth to be impressed is this : Know the self first, 
then strengthen and rely on the self, and finally become the Di- 
vine Self. 



Self Reliance. in 

Right here we must consider the question of the influence 
of others upon us. Be strong in your discrimination of the truth. 
Let no other mind dominate your thought. Be grand enough to 
recognize your delusions when once they are revealed to you, 
but know things for yourself and not because somebody says so. 
You can absorb something from everyone, but do not accept 
anything because I say so or some great teacher or writer has 
expressed it, but because you perceive it to be true. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, and when you conform to 
that law there is no danger of your scattering your forces. 
Really it is most restful, and how anxiety disappears in the face 
of such a consciousness. You need have no care for the morrow 
if you cultivate the very highest of all things within yourself and 
rely upon yourself. The Lord is mindful of his own — that is, 
the law protects those who are one with it. "The lily of the 
field" looks up in loving faith and all its wants are intelligently 
supplied. Truly it "rests in the Lord" — relies upon the law of 
its own being. 

Ah! yes, the most difficult thing for struggling humanity 
to learn is the simplest thing in the world. Let go. Stop being 
anxiety and be peace and strength for a while instead. 

As we go on concentrating on self and self-reliance, do we 
not see how disastrous it would be to "kill out" the self, when 
upon the self and the strength of self depends all that we are? 



ii2 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

It is you yourself, and you must become the spirit and the life 
by knowing and raising the vibration of self. You do not believe 
anything unless you live it. There is the knowledge of the in- 
tellect and the knowledge of the soul, and it is the soul knowledge 
that is meant when the Master says that "To know is to have 
eternal life." 

Be true to the self and all men will be true to you. The 
only person whose respect it is absolutely necessary for you to 
have is your own. What other people think of you is of but 
slight import compared with what you think of yourself. Culti- 
vate the soil of your own inner garden and see that its plants do 
not die for want of care. The seed that is sown in your inner 
consciousness will determine the fruit of your life's expression. 

If man would but look to the inner Temple of his soul for 
light and understanding rather than to the delusions of the out- 
side world, how different it all would be. He would soon learn 
to depend on himself, would soon become that which the Master 
Truth requires. True growth is from the inside out. The tem- 
porary props of churches and organizations are useful just as 
is the mother's guiding hand to the child until the little feet are 
strong enough to stand alone, but the time comes when the baby 
is gone, the man stands alone in the world ; yes, alone, yet strong 
in the consciousness of his own strength. 



Self Reliance. 113 

How majestic in its solemn import is the life when the 
awakening of the spirit has come. How strong and serene in 
its sense of security is that soul which recognizes and knows the 
law of its own divine being. Then, indeed, is he ready for the 
awakening in other spheres. The diver in the ocean's mysteries 
only remains there until he has found his treasure. He is sus- 
tained in his research by the air he receives from above. How he 
rejoices to return to that atmosphere which is his life! Do you 
not think when the man has found his treasure that he also will 
rejoice to return to that atmosphere of love which is his life? 

Watch and Pray. Student of Truth, you must watch your 
thoughts diligently, always striving to raise the vibrations and 
create purer atmospheres of love and tenderness for all things. 
The Kingdom within yields to prayer and concentration. It is 
said that to labor is to pray, to ask is to receive and to knock is 
to have opened, but not without the effort and action of the 
seeker. Your treasure is within yourself. When the recognition 
of self comes to the soul the Divine Spirit enlightens and in- 
structs, illuminating and revealing the treasure within. 



ETHICAL DIETETICS 



ETHICAL DIETETICS 

IF there is anything in this world I do love to do, it is to cook. 
Possibly you may think I don't know anything about cook- 
ing, and that is the reason I think it is such beautiful work ; 
and again you may have an idea that the art of cooking has 
nothing to do with spiritual philosophy. Indeed, I have heard 
that some people think the work of preparing food is beneath 
them and not ethical. Just think of that ! as though there is any- 
thing great or anything small in the Divine harmony. Don't you 
know that "He that worketh in love is one" ? 

It is all a matter of opinion as to which work is the greatest, 
and I would like to know any work that requires more ability 
and tact than cooking (good cooking, I mean), or that is more 
useful. Now I have tried all kinds of work, from playing the 
organ in church to making bread, and from taking care of babies 
to teaching esoteric philosophy, and I believe that making bread 
requires more real love vibrations than anything else I have 
mentioned. 

Ah! there is the secret, my friend; if you want to succeed 
with your cooking you must put the constructive force of love 
into it, and you people who "hate" to cook — if you have any 
regard for the health of the people you are cooking for, leave the 



n6 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

high and holy profession of cooking to some one who loves the 
work, and you go and be an opera singer, write a book or saw 
wood, but don't cook. 

Every vibration that you take into your body, whether it is 
in the air you breathe, the water you drink or the food that you 
eat, carries with it either a constructive or a destructive force, 
and every atom that you take into your stomach has an influence 
of some kind on the atoms of your body. Let us think seriously 
about this, and then see whether it is important, or a matter to 
be lightly considered what kind of food you eat, and what kind 
of vibrations have been put into that food. 

All you students of suggestive Therapeutics understand per- 
fectly that you can take a glass of water and suggest to that water 
that it carry in its atoms harmony and love — relaxing quality if 
that is required, or any other force your patient needs, and it will 
act quite as effectively as medicine. Surely you have thought 
that the atoms which you take into your system in food must 
come under the same law. 

Every atom in the body is intelligent; the brain is not the 
only part of man that thinks, and when these atoms are ill at ease 
they will rebel, and when there is mutiny in the stomach the 
entire body is conscious of it. Most dyspepsia, in fact I believe 
almost all physical inharmony, is the result of the destructive 
vibrations which are in the food we eat. All destructive vibra- 



Ethical Dietetics. 117 

tions mean disintegration, and what the world calls old age and 
final dissolution or death. 

Of course it is better to do without food than to take de- 
structive forces into the body, and if the stomach has been abused, 
by all means let it rest. When it is ready for food it will notify 
you, and inform you exactly what kind of nourishment is best 
for it. Any craving you have is simply the call of nature. The 
body knows what it requires for recuperation, and if you will 
build your body constructively by eating the proper foods, there 
will be no dis-eased conditions and no abnormal cravings. 

It is not necessary to discuss the different opinions of the 
world in regard to this question of diet, because there is no sub- 
ject on which people are more opinionated than this. What we 
want to do is simply to consider our problem from a common 
sense standpoint. Science that is not based upon common sense 
and reason is not worthy the name of science, and cooking and 
the preparation of food is a science, nay more, it is an art. 

Some writer has said that Science is from man and Art is 
from God. It seems to me that art is only a higher vibration 
of science. You reason about science, you perceive art, and 
perception is only such rapid reasoning that you are not conscious 
of the process. 

Are you not glad that you do not belong to the school of new 
thought students who believe in eating their food raw ? And are 



n8 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

you not glad that you do not belong to the school of people who 
eat as nearly nothing as possible? If you do, you need read no 
further, because I am going to tell you about ever so many nice 
things to eat. and not about eating one meal a week and that 
composed of unsalted whole wheat crackers, warranted to keep 
forty years, and a raw tomato. No, I suppose it is very lovely 
to have reached such a high vibration where one can live on fruit 
and air or maybe air alone, but few of us have reached that 
plane. 

Do you really think the denial of appetites that are normal 
is healthy, or that it is useful to deny the reasonable demands 
of the body? Each atom of the intelligent man surely knows 
what it requires, and I believe that hunger on any plane is nature's 
way of informing you of the condition. 

The law always seeks to express harmony, and whenever 
there is resistance of any kind pain results simply as a warning. 
If you remove the cause of resistance and conform to the law 
the pain leaves. Xow hunger is pain; when the stomach is 
hungry it demands food, and is warning you of its necessity. 
Well does the stomach understand its responsibility in running 
the machine of the human organism, and when you supply the 
demand the warning ceases, and all is harmony once more. 

In order to have a healthy mind you must have a healthy 
body. What you should do, is to harmonize the whole man, 



Ethical Dietetics. 119 

body, mind and soul, and nourish each and every part with the 
life force it can best assimilate. 

It seems too bad that I must say a few words about the 
carnivorous habit. I wish that it need not be mentioned, because 
it is so difficult to speak about meat eating without indirectly 
condemning the habit, for it is only a habit. Meat is entirely 
superfluous as a food, and no human stomach can long endure 
the strain of digesting it even once a day, to say nothing of three 
times a day. It is not necessary to go into statistics to prove that 
over one-half of the earth's population are vegetarians, although 
it can easily be proved, and much the stronger and more temper- 
ate half, too, and when one sees on every side the disastrous re- 
sults of this carnivorous habit it is almost impossible to avoid 
condemning it. 

Let us look at it from the standpoint of vibration, and lay 
aside all question of right or wrong in the matter. As we have 
seen, what we think is right and what is wrong is entirely a mat- 
ter of human opinion, but the law of vibration is perfect and 
never fails in its results. 

Can you imagine an animal with its intelligent and psychic 
mind — for all animals are psychic — all alive to the fact that it is 
going to be murdered ? Can you imagine that animal dying full 
of fear and horror and not permeate every atom of its flesh with 
that horror? And yet you, sensitive and refined, want to take 



120 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

those vibrations of fear into your delicate organism by eating the 
corpse of that fellow creature. Horrible, isn't it? But don't 
delude yourselves, my fellow students. If you are a student of 
nature's laws, you must think, and you are to consider without 
any glamour of delusion every point that comes into view. 

If it was of the slightest use it might be condoned, this 
sacrificing of intelligent life, but it is not. The earth yields an 
abundance of everything necessary for her children, and the ani- 
mal increase would soon adjust itself to normal conditions. You 
who think that meat is such a necessary part of your daily food, 
and that spices are to be abjured, may be surprised to know that 
there is more nourishment and sustaining power in two grains 
of cayenne pepper than in a pound of beef, and with a world full 
of beautiful, sun-kissed foods, so teeming with constructive 
force, what is the use of all this horror — brutalizing our men by 
making them murderers and filling our bodies with destruction 
and consequent disintegration? 

Is it surprising that anarchy and hate run rampant when 
not only the air we breathe but the food we eat is permeated with 
fear, the most destructive force in the world? 

You may think me rather stupid on some points, 
but I cannot quite understand just how people with the 
carnivorous habit discriminate. What is the reason they do 
not find a nice, clean kitten appetizing, and yet have no scruples 



Ethical Dietetics. 121 

about a pig? They could not endure the thought of eating a 
nice fried mouse, but consider a frog quite a delicacy. And as 
for chicken, supposed to be the food for invalids, did you ever 
observe how chickens constitute themselves into a scavenger 
brigade. Dear me! let's talk about something pleasant; this 
train of thought is too dreadful. Let me tell you a story about 
how easy it is to prepare a meal when you work only with con- 
structive forces. 

Once I was invited by a most lovely lady to give a talk at 
her home one afternoon on Dietetics. She invited me to come 
to luncheon at 12 o'clock and meet about ten of her friends before 
the guests of the afternoon arrived. So I told her that I should 
like very much to come and prepare the luncheon for her guests 
and give them an illustration at the same time. At first she 
couldn't think of such a thing. It was too preposterous — why, 
I might spoil my dress, and I might be weary for the afternoon, 
etc. Finally I convinced her that nothing makes me weary except 
things I don't want to do, and that my cooking is not the sizzling, 
splashing kind that seems to necessitate disorderly gowns, so 
she consented to turn her kitchen over to me for half an hour 
before luncheon and, although I am convinced it was with many 
doubts and fears, to trust me with its preparation. Let me say 
before I get lost in the preparation of the luncheon that our 
charming hostess changed her mind, if she had any doubts, and 



122 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

has depended on me for menus and recipes many times in giving 
such little affairs. 

Now I will tell you just what we had and how it was served, 
and if you really care to know, how the dishes were prepared. 
Of course we all want to know the best and easiest way of doing 
things. We are realizing more fully each day that one of our 
responsibilities is to make the very highest use of our time and 
strength. 

In the first place. I believe in simplicity. A table loaded 
with about fourteen different kinds of dishes, each of them in- 
harmonizing its neighbor, is not elegant according to my way of 
thinking, and as for courses, well, that again is something that is 
entirely a matter of taste and opinion. We all believe in immacu- 
late cleanliness and a beautiful table, but our ideas of beauty may 
differ and my idea of beauty is perhaps not so elaborate as yours. 
Think of the work necessary to prepare the meals in some house- 
holds, when meat, pie and cake or doughnuts are considered es- 
sential for each meal, but we are wandering away from our 
luncheon and I want to tell you about that before going into any 
more by-ways. 

Had I been all alone, with the table to set and all the details 
to attend to, I should have taken an hour and commenced at n 
o'clock, but as all that was done for me. half an hour was an 
abundance of time to cook the luncheon. My lady rather stared 



Ethical D iater 123 

when I appeared in a white silk gown, and insisted on enveloping 
me in a huge apron, which is always useful at such times, and 
then the guests all wanted to help, which they did. by making a 
happy, interested audience. 

Our menu consisted of an Indian curry served with rice, 
a vegetable side dish, a salad, olives, jelly, bread and butter, 
watermelon and lots of fun. It doesn't sound like a very complete 
luncheon, does it? You think we ought to have had a little 
consomme, a few oysters, maybe. Do you know what oysters 
are and what their mission is? They are the scavengers of the 
ocean, and keep it clean by absorbing all the vileness in it. 
Goodness ! don't let's get back to any such phase of this question 
or we will spoil our luncheon entirely. 

Most people think they know how to do such a simple thing 
as to boil rice, but unless each grain comes out separate and 
white the chances are that they know nothing about it. Rice is 
one of the most nourishing and delicate foods we have. It is 
full of 5 v. s : fining life force and very sensitive to vibrations, but 
it does not want to be disturbed while cooking and must never 
be stirred. You can use nee in more wavs than an\~thinof else 
I know of and it will harmonize with almost every kind of food 
and nourish almost every kind of animal. 

You know many kinds of food that agree perfectly with 
one organism will disagree with another, and that is one of the 



124 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

uses of our sense of taste. If your condition is normal and you 
like a certain food it will agree with you, and if you are ill and 
crave something you probably need it. If we would only trust 
to our intuition and to nature's demands, instead of somebody's 
else opinions how much better we would all be. Now, if I should 
eat oatmeal or postum imitation of coffee I should be ill for a 
week, and yet I am never conscious of my digestive organs un- 
less I abuse them by eating something which is inharmonious. 
I have a friend to whom milk is poison, but she can drink beer 
and it is nourishing to her. Now beer is perfectly horrid to me, 
but I really need milk and cream. 

So you see each man must find what belongs to him on the 
plane of diet as on every other, and if he trusts to his own taste 
and not to the opinions of other people, he will soon have his 
stomach in normal condition. 

How we do wander away from our lunch party, and you are 
waiting to know how I made that Indian curry, so I will try and 
tell you without digressing again. First you put a big piece of 
butter in a skillet or a deep frying pan. There now ! We may 
have different ideas about bigness when it comes to measuring 
butter. I never do measure anything; I always know just how 
much to put in, and some way it always comes out right, so I'll 
let you guess about the butter; but let me tell you this, a little 
too much is better than not quite enough. Then take six big 



Ethical Dietetics. 125 

green peppers, take all the seeds out and slice them in the skillet ; 
then four good sized tomatoes and two nice, firm onions; slice 
them all into the skillet, pour over it a cup of boiling water, let 
it cook for about ten minutes. Oh ! I forgot the salt and pepper ; 
don't you forget it when you make the curry or you may think 
it is not good. Then take a tablespoon heaping full of curry 
powder and dissolve it in a teacup full of hot water and pour it 
over the boiling mixture. When it has cooked until the peppers 
are tender grate into it half a pound of cheese, stir it all up thor- 
oughly and let it cook about five minutes longer and serve with 
boiled rice. The way we served it was this : We put the rice 
in the center of a platter like a little snowy pyramid and sur- 
rounded it with the curry. It looks so pretty that way. 

Our other vegetable dish was made of canned vegetables, 
and really I think some of our canned and bottled goods are fine. 
I like the imported mushrooms better than the fresh ones, and 
one feels so safe in using them, too. For this dish, which is 
very simple, you take a can of corn, a can of stringless beans and 
a can of mushrooms. Put them all together in a stew pan with 
plenty of salt pepper and butter; then take a tablespoonful of 
curry powder, dissolve it in boiling water and put that in. About 
ten minutes boiling is quite sufficient. The curry powder is not 
necessary but we liked it and I th ink curry is a great assimilator 



126 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

and most nourishing, so we use it a great deal. We served that 
in separate dishes and alone, although it is very nice with rice. 

And now for our salad. I only wish I had space to give you 
a dozen different salads. It is an art to prepare salads, and how 
delightfully refreshing they are when made and served as they 
should be! The one we had was prepared on individual plates. 
You first put a lettuce leaf on the plate, and then a tomato with 
the center partly taken out on the lettuce leaf. Then take an egg 
and press the yellow through one of these vegetable squeezers 
and put that inside of the tomato, and then take the white and 
press that through the squeezer, or whatever you call it, I'm sure 
I don't know, and put that around the tomato and on the lettuce 
leaf. Mercy ! I almost omitted to tell you that the egg must be 
boiled hard first. Wouldn't it be a comical salad if you had used 
it raw ? It will look so pretty you want to admire it for a min- 
ute before you put your dressing over it. 

And now just a word about salad dressings. There are 
many ways of making them, but you never want to use vinegar 
if you can avoid it. Lemon juice is very much better and many 
ethical cooks prefer lime juice to anything else. We took for the 
dressing for one salad one tablespoonful of olive oil and one 
tablespoonful of lemon juice, with a pinch of salt and a dash of 
cayenne pepper for each person, whipped it all up thoroughly and 
poured it over our pretty salad. 



Ethical Dietetics. 12 



At 12 o'clock we sat down to luncheon. It took just half an 
hour to prepare and cook it, although as I said before much of 
the detail work was done. Our hostess evidently had her doubts 
about my culinary skill, because she had several kinds of cake and 
preserves, besides a watermelon, on the sideboard. We did eat 
some watermelon, but I had the pleasure of reminding her that 
her cake was not touched. Our luncheon carried such a high vi- 
bration, or in other words was so good, that we did not want such 
commonplace stuff as cake. 

Cake is all right, and quite useful for people who live on 
such unsatisfactory diet as meat and potatoes and all kinds of 
things cooked in lard. I have noticed, however, that when people 
come into the understanding of dietetics and eat the sun-ripened 
foods. Fruit, Spices. Nuts and Grains, that cakes, pies, puddings 
and all such things become superfluous and soon are things of the 
past. You see if you have all the sweet you require in fruit and 
plenty of oil in nuts, you do not need it or desire it all plastered 
together with flour and eggs and chocolate and things. 

In the afternoon we had our lecture on diet, and it is such a 
satisfaction to talk to reasonable people on that subject. They 
grasp the principle of it at once, and if you only lay the founda- 
tion for reasonable thinking it is unnecessary to have ever so 
many set rules about how many eggs and how much butter and 



128 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

how much salt and how long to cook. You just know. Your 
reasoning has evolved into perceptions. 

Wouldn't it be monotonous to cook the same things and the 
same way all the time? Really, the most interesting part is the 
experimenting part. To be sure you make mistakes occasion- 
ally. I remember once trying to make a curry with cabbage for 
its foundation. My, but wasn't it a mess ! I don't think I ever 
mentioned it before. Cauliflower is so harmonious and so ready 
to assimilate with most things that I supposed cabbage, being of 
the same family, would be equally obliging, but I soon found 
that, like human families, vegetable families disagree. Cabbage 
is very conservative and will seldom mix. You even have to eat 
it carefully or it behaves badly, and the best treatment I have 
found for it is to let it alone. 

It takes but little thought to show us that spiritual alchemy 
is useful in understanding the vegetable nature as well as human 
and animal nature, for you will find that everything that grows 
and everything that lives has a certain spiritual character of its 
own. 

You see the character of our thought depends so much upon 
our diet. A proper and reasonable diet overcomes all morbid 
taste for alcohol or any other stimulant that is artificial. Then 
when the taste is natural, and the thought and desire natural, 
harmony must result. The foods ripened in the direct sun rays, 



Ethical Dietetics. 129 

in all their beautiful variety, so satisfy every craving of the body 
that it demands nothing injurious or unnatural. 

So many people think that in order to live on a vegetable 
diet they must have unseasoned and tasteless foods. On the 
contrary, you use herbs, spices, oils, peppers, fruits, nuts, cereals, 
grains, vegetables, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and cheese. Don't 
you think you can find plenty of variety in those things ? Variety 
of diet is most useful ; the more varied the diet, the more varied 
the range of thought, and people who use their minds actively, 
business and professional people, should have a varied and nu- 
tritious diet. 

Cooking, preparing food and serving meals should be a labor 
of love. Really, food should be prepared and eaten in a spirit of 
devotion. Not that devotion that is too solemn to be mentioned 
on week days or before folks, but that devotion that is love with- 
out ceasing, that is bright, genial and courteous and always in 
our hearts. 

Now don't let us hurry about eating our meals, and don't 
let us eat because we have to, but because we want to ; and don't 
let us eat when we are in a bad humor. There are many more 
don'ts we might mention, but the affirmative thought is so much 
more constructive we will use that form of expression. 

Eat slowly and with a full realization that your food con- 
tains the life-giving essence. 



130 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

Make the best use of your food, assimilate it calmly and 
slowly, conscious that its proper assimilation means strength and 
enduring power to the entire system. 

Do you not agree with me that too many dishes at one meal 
is waste of time and unnecessary ? Most people who can afford 
it live so elaborately and artificially that it amounts to intem- 
perance. 

A little more attention to quality and less to quantity and 
some study about the chemistry of food would do more toward 
raising the vibration than many things we are working at so 
strenuously. 

When it comes to serving meals, that is partially a matter of 
taste and partially a matter of strength of purse, although the 
most elaborate vegetable diet is less expensive than a very plain 
meat diet. How many sides there are to this question anyway. 
It would take a whole volume for me to tell you what I would 
like to, and to give you the recipes that come crowding into my 
mind. 

Many people would not think they had dined unless they 
commenced their dinner with soup and finished with a cup of 
coffee. For those people we can give you quite as elaborate a 
menu as though you used fish and meat, and before I forget it 
let me give you a recipe for soup. 



Ethical Dietetics. 131 

Take two onions, four carrots, four oyster plants and chop 
them all up fine; then take a bouquet of parsley, mint, sage and 
one head of celery, chop them up fine and mix all together ; place 
in a stew pan in two quarts of water, then add half a cup of rice 
with salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil three hours, then add 
one-third of a pint of cream and serve with Parmason cheese 
and dry toast. This soup can be served clear if you prefer. 

You can make a nice soup stock by taking four onions, four 
carrots and four tomatoes, chop them up fine and cover them 
with three quarts of water; then add a cup of barley that has 
been soaked over night. Let it all cook about four hours, then 
strain it through a fine colander and you can make any quantity 
of varieties of soup by diluting it and adding different vegetables 
as you wish. I would like to write a chapter on soup, but this 
is not supposed to be a study on recipes, although it is beginning 
to look like it. 

I must say a few words about coffee and tea, and I do want 
to give you such a lovely way of currying eggs. I guess I will 
give you the recipe about the eggs now. Take three medium 
sized onions and one head of celery and chop them or slice them 
together and fry them in butter until they are well browned ; then 
add a bouquet each of chopped parsley, mint, marjaram and 
thyme, with a cup of water in which has been dissolved a tea- 
spoonful of curry powder ; then add half a pint of cream and mix 



132 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

it all together in a large frying pan. Let it cook until the mixture 
becomes a deep brown, then drop six fresh eggs over it, taking 
care not to break the yolks, cover it up and let it cook over a 
slow fire for two hours and serve with rice. Really the above is 
one of the most delicious combinations you ever tasted, and it 
has one merit, it's not common. You will find yourself the first 
among your friends to prepare it, unless they happen to get hold 
of this study before you do. 

Now about coffee. I never could understand why coffee 
should be condemned. Like everything else, it can be abused 
instead of used properly, and a good quality coffee, properly made 
and served fresh, is not only nourishing, but it gives tone and 
strength to the nerves. Coffee carries a very high vibration, and 
that is the reason it must be used more moderately than some 
other things. You can let any appetite master you if you wish. 
Many people are slaves to the carnivorous habit, and it always 
amuses me to see people who are too nervous to drink coffee 
and tea and have to drink such stuff as crushed mixtures like 
postum coffee, and yet they can eat beefsteak and calves' brains 
with impunity. What wise and consistent creatures we mortals 
are, anyway. 

Tea is equally useful in moderation. Any nice black tea 
is a cheerful, strengthening drink, always providing it is properly 
made, and carries a bright, harmonious vibration. 



Ethical Dietetics. 133 

I'm not going to say very much about desserts, although we 
have occasionally to prepare them because there are many de- 
licious and dainty preparations in any cook book that you may 
take up that do not necessitate using lard or anything ob- 
jectionable. 

Then there are olives and jellies, and by the way, don't you 
love jelly? Yes. I really mean love it. It is so beautiful, and 
when properly made, I mean made in love, carries with 
it such a high vibration. Do you know I have seen 
people worry and fret and get cross over making jelly, 
and then wonder why it won't jell and look pretty. 
Of course it won't do either unless you love to make it. 
As I heard a dear old colored woman say once, "Jelly is mighty 
perspicuous; 'pears like it knows." How many times I have 
watched her stand over her jelly when she was making it, talking 
to it, as it were : "taking keer of it," she said. But dear old 
Mammy's jelly always radiates a constructive force and is better 
than any tonic as a cheering influence. 

Yes, indeed, the way to many a man's heart is through his 
stomach, but it is by putting the right vibration in the food and 
not by catering to an abnormal appetite. 

In cooking even more than in many other kinds of work you 
must use your common sense and reason. If you know yourself 
you know what to eat. After all, it is only realization on a little 



134 Studies in Spiritual Harmony. 

different plane, isn't it? Do let us be practical and bring our 
study of truth and harmony right into the detail of our every-day 
lives, and remember, as I told you in the beginning of this lesson, 
that "There is nothing great and nothing small in the Divine 
harmony. He that worketh in love is One." 



DEC 30 1901 

1 COPY DEL. TO CAT. D1V. 
D£C. 31 1301 



